Managing 301 Redirects

#Overview

A 301 redirect automatically sends visitors and search engines from one URL to another. When a page is moved or deleted, a 301 redirect ensures users reach the correct page while preserving your search rankings.

#How Redirects Are Created Automatically

When you change a page's URL in CMS Max, the system automatically creates a 301 redirect from the old URL to the new one. This means:

• Visitors using old links are sent to the correct page without any extra steps
• Your search engine rankings are preserved
• You never need to worry about broken links when updating page URLs

The redirect is created as soon as you save the page with the updated URL.

#Accessing the Redirects Manager

1. Click SEO Max in your admin menu
2. Select 301 Redirects
3. Your existing redirects are shown in a table

#Creating a Single Redirect

1. Click Create 301 Redirect
2. Enter the original URL (the old address)
3. Enter the destination URL (where visitors should go)
4. Click Save

The destination can be a page on your own site or a page on an external website. For external sites, include the full address starting with https://.

URL format: Enter only the path portion of the URL — the part after your domain name. For example, enter old-page or blog/old-article, not https://yourdomain.com/old-page.

An original URL can be up to 254 characters (CMS Max adds the leading /). It cannot contain . or .. as a folder (such as blog/../offer), because browsers resolve those before the visit reaches your site.

#Creating a Batch Redirect

If you need to redirect many old URLs to a single destination at once:

1. Click Batch Redirect
2. Enter the original URLs, one per line
3. Enter the single destination URL
4. Click Save

This is useful when consolidating old product pages into a category page, or redirecting a group of outdated pages to your homepage.

#Using Wildcard Redirects

Wildcards let you redirect many URL variations with a single rule. Use an asterisk (*) to match anything that follows a pattern.

For example, a rule for old-blog/* will match old-blog/post-1, old-blog/post-2, old-blog/category/tech, and any other address that starts with old-blog/.

Common uses:

• Moving an entire blog section: old-blog/* to new-blog/*
• Retiring a product line: products/discontinued/* to products/
• Consolidating language variants: en-us/* to /

#Editing and Deleting Redirects

The redirects table shows all your active redirects with their original and destination URLs. You can:

• Edit a redirect to update its destination URL
• Delete a redirect when it is no longer needed

Be careful when deleting redirects — visitors who follow old links will receive a "page not found" error once a redirect is removed.

#One Redirect per URL

Each original URL can only have one active redirect. If you try to create a redirect for a URL that already has one, CMS Max refuses it and tells you where the existing redirect points — it is not silently replaced. To send that URL somewhere else, edit the existing redirect instead.

The same applies to a URL already used by a real page on your site: you cannot redirect away from an address that something else is still using.

#Managing Redirects with an AI Assistant

If your site has the AI Connect plugin, you can manage redirects by asking an AI assistant instead of using the admin screens. This is particularly useful during a site migration, when you may have hundreds of old addresses to move at once.

You can ask it to:

• List what exists — "show me the redirects on this site", or "which redirects were created automatically?"
• Create one — "redirect /old-pricing to the new pricing page"
• Create many at once — "redirect all of these old URLs to our new services page", then paste the list
• Change one — "point the /old-pricing redirect at the homepage instead"
• Remove one — "delete the redirect from /seasonal-offer"

The assistant follows exactly the same rules the admin screens do: it cannot reuse a source address that already has a redirect or belongs to a real page, it cannot point a redirect at a page that does not exist, and it cannot create a loop. If something is not allowed, it tells you why rather than silently doing something different.

When you rename a page, the redirect is still created automatically — you do not need to ask. These show as Auto Generated in the redirects table, and the assistant can list them for you if you want to review or tidy them up.

#Testing Your Redirects

After creating a redirect, verify it is working:

1. Open a private or incognito browser window
2. Type in the old URL
3. Confirm that you are automatically taken to the correct destination
4. Check that the new URL is shown in the address bar

#Best Practices

• Redirect to the most relevant page, not just the homepage
• Avoid redirect chains (redirecting A to B, and B to C) — redirect directly to the final destination, as chains slow down page loading
• Periodically review your redirects list and remove any that are no longer needed
• Test redirects in an incognito window to see the experience as a visitor would

#Why 301 Redirects Matter for SEO

A 301 redirect signals to search engines that a page has permanently moved. This transfers the ranking value of the old page to the new destination, preventing 404 errors, maintaining your search positions during URL changes, and ensuring any external links pointing to the old address continue to benefit your site.