Send an old link to a new page

When a page moves or goes away, old links to it still float around: in Google results, on printed menus, in emails you sent. A redirect sends anyone using the old link to the page you pick. We can't promise rankings, traffic, calls or sales, but a redirect spares visitors a dead end and helps Google find the new page.

Before you start

• The old page has to be gone. If it's still on your site, hidden or not, the redirect won't work. Delete it first: Hide or delete a page. The same goes for a popup that uses that address.
• Write down the old address ending, such as the part after your site's name, and decide which page it should go to.

Steps

1. Log in to your site editor.
2. In the side panel, click More, then click Settings.
3. Click URL Redirect.
4. Click Add New Redirect.
5. In Source URL, type only the ending of the old address, not the whole web address. For an old page at your site's name followed by /about, you'd type "about". Including the full address breaks the redirect.
6. Choose the destination:
   • Destination Page to pick one of your own pages from the list.
   • Custom URL to type another address, such as another website, or a spot further down a page.
7. In the Redirect Type menu, choose 301 redirect if the page moved for good (the usual choice), or 302 redirect if it's only for a while.
8. Click Add.
9. Click Publish URL Rules. This puts the redirect live without republishing the rest of your site.

Check it worked

Open the old address on your live site. You should land on the new page. If you don't:

• Look for extra spaces, a question mark and extra bits, a percent sign or ".php" in the old address. Those won't work.
• Make sure the destination page exists, and that you didn't add the same redirect twice.
• Make sure two redirects don't send people back and forth between each other.

Good to know

• A redirect works for old addresses on your own site. To send a different website address to your site, see Point another website address to your site.
• Redirects don't read the extra bits some links carry after a question mark.
• Moving from an old site with lots of changed addresses? Send us the list of old addresses and where each one should go, and we'll tell you in writing what it involves before we start.

Need a hand?

Email hello@zossoz.com with your business name, the old address and the page it should go to, and we'll take care of it. We reply within one business day. See Request a change.