undefined
Skip to content
Moz logo Menu open Menu close
  • Products
    • Moz Pro
    • Moz Pro Home
    • Moz Local
    • Moz Local Home
    • STAT
    • Moz API
    • Moz API Home
    • Compare SEO Products
    • Moz Data
  • Free SEO Tools
    • Domain Analysis
    • Keyword Explorer
    • Link Explorer
    • Competitive Research
    • MozBar
    • More Free SEO Tools
  • Learn SEO
    • Beginner's Guide to SEO
    • SEO Learning Center
    • Moz Academy
    • SEO Q&A
    • Webinars, Whitepapers, & Guides
  • Blog
  • Why Moz
    • Agency Solutions
    • Enterprise Solutions
    • Small Business Solutions
    • Case Studies
    • The Moz Story
    • New Releases
  • Log in
  • Log out
  • Products
    • Moz Pro

      Your all-in-one suite of SEO essentials.

    • Moz Local

      Raise your local SEO visibility with complete local SEO management.

    • STAT

      SERP tracking and analytics for enterprise SEO experts.

    • Moz API

      Power your SEO with our index of over 44 trillion links.

    • Compare SEO Products

      See which Moz SEO solution best meets your business needs.

    • Moz Data

      Power your SEO strategy & AI models with custom data solutions.

    NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic
    Moz Pro

    NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic

    Learn more
  • Free SEO Tools
    • Domain Analysis

      Get top competitive SEO metrics like DA, top pages and more.

    • Keyword Explorer

      Find traffic-driving keywords with our 1.25 billion+ keyword index.

    • Link Explorer

      Explore over 40 trillion links for powerful backlink data.

    • Competitive Research

      Uncover valuable insights on your organic search competitors.

    • MozBar

      See top SEO metrics for free as you browse the web.

    • More Free SEO Tools

      Explore all the free SEO tools Moz has to offer.

    NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic
    Moz Pro

    NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic

    Learn more
  • Learn SEO
    • Beginner's Guide to SEO

      The #1 most popular introduction to SEO, trusted by millions.

    • SEO Learning Center

      Broaden your knowledge with SEO resources for all skill levels.

    • On-Demand Webinars

      Learn modern SEO best practices from industry experts.

    • How-To Guides

      Step-by-step guides to search success from the authority on SEO.

    • Moz Academy

      Upskill and get certified with on-demand courses & certifications.

    • MozCon

      Save on Early Bird tickets and join us in London or New York City

    Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints
    Moz API

    Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints

    Find your plan
  • Blog
  • Why Moz
    • Small Business Solutions

      Uncover insights to make smarter marketing decisions in less time.

    • Agency Solutions

      Earn & keep valuable clients with unparalleled data & insights.

    • Enterprise Solutions

      Gain a competitive edge in the ever-changing world of search.

    • The Moz Story

      Moz was the first & remains the most trusted SEO company.

    • Case Studies

      Explore how Moz drives ROI with a proven track record of success.

    • New Releases

      Get the scoop on the latest and greatest from Moz.

    Surface actionable competitive intel
    New Feature

    Surface actionable competitive intel

    Learn More
  • Log in
    • Moz Pro
    • Moz Local
    • Moz Local Dashboard
    • Moz API
    • Moz API Dashboard
    • Moz Academy
  • Avatar
    • Moz Home
    • Notifications
    • Account & Billing
    • Manage Users
    • Community Profile
    • My Q&A
    • My Videos
    • Log Out

The Moz Q&A Forum

  • Forum
  • Questions
  • Users
  • Ask the Community

Welcome to the Q&A Forum

Browse the forum for helpful insights and fresh discussions about all things SEO.

  1. Home
  2. SEO Tactics
  3. Content Development
  4. How do I redirect a page that no longer exists?

Moz Q&A is closed.

After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.

How do I redirect a page that no longer exists?

Content Development
4
7
8.3k
Loading More Posts
  • Oldest to Newest
  • Newest to Oldest
  • Most Votes
Reply
  • Reply as question
Log in to reply
This topic has been deleted. Only users with question management privileges can see it.
  • dealblogger
    dealblogger last edited by Apr 19, 2013, 11:17 AM

    I changed the name of a blog article I wrote and the original name is giving a 404 error. I am not sure why it isn't being directed like the other articles I renamed to improve SEO.

    Since the webpage no longer exists, I don't know how to redirect it.

    I use Wordpress and Thesis.

    Thanks!

    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
    • dealblogger
      dealblogger @DarinPirkey last edited by Apr 19, 2013, 12:19 PM Apr 19, 2013, 12:19 PM

      I see. Yes the 301s are just within my own site. Whew that makes me feel better.

      Ok since I said I was using Wordpress in the OP, I figured CMS meant something else. Good to know.

      I will check out that link, thanks!

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • DarinPirkey
        DarinPirkey @dealblogger last edited by Apr 19, 2013, 12:18 PM Apr 19, 2013, 12:17 PM

        If you used Simple URLs then your CMS is Wordpress (Content Management System).

        I didn't mean to scare you though.  301s on your own site are fine.  Don't worry about them as long as they are coming FROM pages that you don't want to pages that you DO want.  The way you have them working on your site are perfect.  That's what they are for.  I have thousands of them on one particular site that I work on.  Have you had a chance to read through SEOmoz's SEO 101 (beginners guide to seo) yet?  It is a great starting point.

        But, let me just clarify the 301 thing.  If an off site link is coming into a non existent page and you 301 that page, you'll lose some of the link juice coming in from that off site.  So it will be better to change the link from the offsite at the source.  301s on your own site are fine though.  For instance, if you 301 the non www to the www version of your site, that is a 301.  That's obviously good for users and good for search engines.

        Sorry for the confusion.

        dealblogger 1 Reply Last reply Apr 19, 2013, 12:19 PM Reply Quote 0
        • dealblogger
          dealblogger last edited by Apr 19, 2013, 12:06 PM Apr 19, 2013, 12:06 PM

          Thanks for the info. I used the plugin Simple URLs. I hope I did it right. I am very green.

          I googled CMS but I still can't tell you what CMS I am using. Sorry.

          Regarding using 301s, yes I am probably using several. Not hundreds or anything but probably tens. This is because I am updating permalinks on the advice of my SEOmoz reports. Then the old permalink automatically redirects to the new one.

          How can I get rid of the 301 redirects so I don't lose link juice?

          DarinPirkey 1 Reply Last reply Apr 19, 2013, 12:17 PM Reply Quote 0
          • DarinPirkey
            DarinPirkey last edited by Apr 19, 2013, 12:01 PM Apr 19, 2013, 12:01 PM

            Firstly, 404s are a natural part of the web and don't think it will kill your site.  It won't.  When you get a 404 error iit can mean that something is pointing to that page or that Google has seen the page before but now it's not there.  Google wants to make sure that that page is completely gone and not an accident to the 404.  Technically if you have nothing pointing to the old post (no external links coming in and no internal links either, including sitemaps) then it will go away after a few crawls.  If you do however have off-page links coming into that page a 301 would definitely be a good idea (best idea would be to get those sources to change the link to the new page url but that's not always possible.  Remember, when you 301 you do loose some link juice)

            If you are on Wordpress there are some great plugins to do this like the 301 redirect option on Wordpress SEO by Yoast

            If you need to do this manually then let us know and we'll give you the actual code to do it in your .htaccess

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
            • SEOAndy
              SEOAndy last edited by Apr 19, 2013, 12:00 PM Apr 19, 2013, 12:00 PM

              what CMS are you using, usually there are plugins to help you do this. Another alternative is to change the URL back to the old URL but the name stays as the new one - this is a common thing that can happen. But it all depends on your CMS - search its name and 301 redirect, you will get there

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote -1
              • BeardoCo
                BeardoCo last edited by Apr 19, 2013, 11:20 AM Apr 19, 2013, 11:20 AM

                Just create a redirect in your htaccess file with the old URL to the new URL.  There are multiple plugins that support this feature on WordPress such as "simple redirect" etc.

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                • 1 / 1
                1 out of 7
                • First post
                  1/7
                  Last post

                Got a burning SEO question?

                Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.


                Start my free trial


                Browse Questions

                Explore more categories

                • Moz Tools

                  Chat with the community about the Moz tools.

                • SEO Tactics

                  Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers

                • Community

                  Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!

                • Digital Marketing

                  Chat about tactics outside of SEO

                • Research & Trends

                  Dive into research and trends in the search industry.

                • Support

                  Connect on product support and feature requests.

                • See all categories

                Related Questions

                • wearehappymedia

                  Page Break

                  Hey guys, A client has asked us to install a page break function on their Wordpress site in the hope of increasing page count. It's a very common practice but have never used it as part of a strategy. Any thoughts, pros or cons?

                  Content Development | Jun 29, 2016, 10:54 AM | wearehappymedia
                  0
                • cheaptubes

                  How do I fix a broken link to a product category page in wordpress?

                  We are building a new site currently at http://67.222.109.48/~cheapnan/ I started doing some SEO after the developer I hired failed to do it even though it was in the agreement. I did our old site so I should be able to do this but I am new to wordpress. Now when i go to the products tab at the top of the page the first 2 have broken links, I checked the rest and there are 3 total that I need to fix.  I am unsure how to access the navigation so I can fix the links.  Please tell me where to look.

                  Content Development | Jun 18, 2015, 8:45 AM | cheaptubes
                  0
                • DemiGR

                  At what point to stop comments on a blog? Do too many comments hurt the page?

                  I have a page that's ranking pretty well, and driving sales.  That page is starting to get 10+ comments per day and is starting to get quite long.  I was wondering if there is a point where I should disable the comments?  My gut tells me that people interacting with the page, and Google seeing responses with the users SHOULD be a good thing not bad.  But, then I think that a majority of the content of the page is no longer the article, but the comments. All the comments are good, non spammy and directly related to the topic.  People just asking questions, etc.  Good engagement, I should be happy right?

                  Content Development | Feb 11, 2015, 2:54 PM | DemiGR
                  0
                • RosemaryB

                  How Are You Handling Blog Posts/Author Pages when Employees Leave the Company?

                  What do you believe to be the best approach in handling blog content for employees once they have left the company? We don’t want to remove the blog posts so they need to stay, but then there are the author pages. This gets tricky because the CMS ties the blog post to the author. One approach might be to change the author’s name to the Company’s name to get around author pages for people no longer with the company. It’s kind of tricky because the blog posts won’t have the same credibility if they don’t have a person’s name/photo associated with the post.  We could leave the blogger’s page and list him as a “Contributing Author” once he’s left the company. Thoughts?

                  Content Development | Aug 26, 2014, 5:15 AM | RosemaryB
                  0
                • VinceWicks

                  Why is redirecting all broken pages to the homepage is a bad idea?

                  I have a site where all broken pages are redirected to the homepage. I've been told that it's a bad idea in terms of SEO. I just can't figure out why 🙂

                  Content Development | Nov 6, 2013, 8:53 PM | VinceWicks
                  0
                • gallreddy

                  How many words should be placed on a home page, category pages, and product pages?

                  To optimize content for a website, how many words should be provided for a home page, category page and a product page?

                  Content Development | Jul 18, 2012, 11:28 AM | gallreddy
                  0
                • CommercePundit

                  How to edit Page Title & Meta Description in Blogger?

                  I'm managing my blog on Blogger platform. I have published 7 blog posts to my patio umbrellas blog. Today, I have published following blog post to my blog. http://vistastores.blogspot.com/2012/03/offset-umbrellas-awesome-choice-for.html When I see page title so it is shows me as follow. Patio Umbrellas Blog: Offset Umbrellas: Awesome choice for good quality time outside! I want to remove Patio Umbrellas Blog: segment from each blog posts' page title. I can't find out Meta description in my blog posts. So, How can I make it happen?

                  Content Development | Mar 21, 2012, 9:17 AM | CommercePundit
                  0
                • eTundra

                  Should I Have No Index, No Follow On Blog Category & Tag Pages?

                  At some point in the past I read or was told that No Index, No Follow tags on category and tag pages were a good thing on a standard WordPress blog in order to prevent duplicate content issues. Is this still true or was it ever true?

                  Content Development | Jun 22, 2011, 7:14 PM | eTundra
                  0

                Get started with Moz Pro!

                Unlock the power of advanced SEO tools and data-driven insights.

                Start my free trial
                Products
                • Moz Pro
                • Moz Local
                • Moz API
                • Moz Data
                • STAT
                • Product Updates
                Moz Solutions
                • SMB Solutions
                • Agency Solutions
                • Enterprise Solutions
                Free SEO Tools
                • Domain Authority Checker
                • Link Explorer
                • Keyword Explorer
                • Competitive Research
                • Brand Authority Checker
                • Local Citation Checker
                • MozBar Extension
                • MozCast
                Resources
                • Blog
                • SEO Learning Center
                • Help Hub
                • Beginner's Guide to SEO
                • How-to Guides
                • Moz Academy
                • API Docs
                About Moz
                • About
                • Team
                • Careers
                • Contact
                Why Moz
                • Case Studies
                • Testimonials
                Get Involved
                • Become an Affiliate
                • MozCon
                • Webinars
                • Practical Marketer Series
                • MozPod
                Connect with us

                Contact the Help team

                Join our newsletter
                Moz logo
                © 2021 - 2025 SEOMoz, Inc., a Ziff Davis company. All rights reserved. Moz is a registered trademark of SEOMoz, Inc.
                • Accessibility
                • Terms of Use
                • Privacy

                Looks like your connection to Moz was lost, please wait while we try to reconnect.