Every time you change a url slug on your website, you run the risk of breaking old links. If you emailed a link to your audience, sent a client a direct link, or added that link to a button on your site, bad news: anyone who clicks on that link is going to land on a 404 page.
The good news? It’s easy to fix those broken links using url redirects!
Basically, a url redirect automatically sends you to a new url when you land on an old one. For example, if you set up a redirect from your old slug /contact-1 to your new page /contact, users who typed in or clicked the old link would automatically land on the new one instead.
Aside from fixing broken links, you might set up url redirects to…
Improve SEO by adding keywords to your url slugs.
Bulletproof your new website by creating redirects after you transfer your site to a new platform.
Simplify affiliate links. For example, my page localcreative.co/planoly redirects to my full affiliate link. This version is much easier to remember!
Clean up your sitemap by eliminating duplicate or unnecessary pages.
No matter the reason you need redirects, the setup is the same.
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Here’s how to plan and create url redirects for your Squarespace website.
Create a list of all your current urls and what you want to change them to. You can write this down by hand, set up a Google Sheet, or (if you’re a member of The Creator Club) use my handy template.
In your Squarespace dashboard, navigate to SETTINGS > ADVANCED > URL MAPPINGS. You should see a code block.
If you’re using my template, all you have to do is copy and paste the code from the third column.
If you’re doing this yourself, you’ll need to enter the old url, the new url, and the redirect type in this format:
/old-url-here -> /new-url-here 301
Depending on the type of redirect you’re making, you’ll enter either 301 or 302 after the two urls. A 301 redirect (which you’ll probably use most often) is meant to be permanent, but a 302 is meant to be temporary.
Once you’ve saved your redirects, it’s time to test them! Type the old url into your browser and make sure you’re automatically redirected to the new one. If it works, you’re done!