Скачать или смотреть Mastering 301 Redirects: How to Effectively Redirect 'Anything Else' to Your Homepage

Learn how to set up `301 redirects` for your website, including special conditions for paths not included in your specific redirects, ensuring a smooth user experience and SEO benefits.
---
This video is based on the question https://stackoverflow.com/q/74112657/ asked by the user 'Chris Pink' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/3009441/ ) and on the answer https://stackoverflow.com/a/74117494/ provided by the user 'Valeriu Ciuca' ( https://stackoverflow.com/u/4527645/ ) at 'Stack Overflow' website. Thanks to these great users and Stackexchange community for their contributions.

Visit these links for original content and any more details, such as alternate solutions, latest updates/developments on topic, comments, revision history etc. For example, the original title of the Question was: 301 redirects how to phrase 'anything else'

Also, Content (except music) licensed under CC BY-SA https://meta.stackexchange.com/help/l...
The original Question post is licensed under the 'CC BY-SA 4.0' ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... ) license, and the original Answer post is licensed under the 'CC BY-SA 4.0' ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... ) license.

If anything seems off to you, please feel free to write me at vlogize [AT] gmail [DOT] com.
---
Mastering 301 Redirects: How to Effectively Redirect 'Anything Else' to Your Homepage

When managing a website, redirecting specific pages to new locations is a common task. But what if you want to ensure that all other pages that do not have specific redirects lead users back to your homepage? This scenario presents two challenges: making sure your defined redirects work correctly while also preventing unwanted infinite redirects that can occur if everything is redirected improperly.

In this guide, we’ll dive into how to configure a 301 redirect that captures all paths not specifically redirected. By the end of this guide, you will have a clear understanding of how to manage your redirects effectively and ensure your users land where you want them to.

Understanding 301 Redirects

A 301 redirect is a permanent redirect from one URL to another. This is important for various reasons:

SEO Benefits: It helps search engines understand the correct URL to index.

User Experience: It ensures users are taken to relevant content rather than encountering a 404 error.

The Scenario: Redirecting Specific Pages and 'Anything Else'

You might have a few specific pages you want to redirect:

pag1.html to new_pag1.html

pag2.html to new_pag2.html

But for any other requests, you want to send them to your homepage. This can be done using Apache’s .htaccess file.

Step-by-Step Implementation

To achieve this, you will need to add some specific configurations to your .htaccess file. Below are the steps to set it up:

1. Define Specific Redirects

First, you want to set up the specific redirects using RedirectMatch:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

2. Enable the Rewrite Engine

To handle more complex URL conditions, you need to enable the RewriteEngine:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

3. Prevent Infinite Redirect Loops

To stop any potential infinite loop of redirects, you add conditions that prevent the server from redirecting requests for the pages already defined:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

4. Redirect Anything Else

Finally, you set up the rule to redirect anything that meets the above conditions to your homepage:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Complete Example

Here is the full configuration that you would place in your .htaccess file:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Conclusion

By implementing the above configuration in your .htaccess file, you ensure that all unspecified requests are directed to your homepage, thereby enhancing user experience and maintaining SEO integrity. By keeping your redirects organized and the rules clearly defined, you mitigate potential errors and ensure an effective management of URL paths.

If you have any further questions or need clarification on any points regarding 301 redirects, feel free to reach out in the comments section below!