Free 301 redirect generator
When a URL changes, a 301 redirect sends visitors — and search engines — from the old address to the new one, preserving your rankings and links. This free tool — built by a Singapore SEO agency — turns a simple list of old and new URLs into ready-to-paste redirect rules for Apache (.htaccess), Nginx, WordPress or PHP. Paste your pairs, pick your platform, and copy. Everything runs in your browser.
301 vs 302: use the right one
A 301 is a permanent redirect — use it whenever a URL has moved for good. It passes almost all of the old page’s ranking signals to the new URL, which is exactly what you want during a redesign, migration or URL cleanup. A 302 is temporary — use it only when the move is genuinely short-term (a promo page, maintenance, A/B test), because search engines keep the old URL indexed. Using a 302 when you meant a 301 is a common, ranking-costing mistake.
Why redirects matter for SEO
Every indexed URL carries accumulated value — backlinks, history, rankings. Change or delete that URL without a redirect and you get a 404 error: visitors hit a dead end and the SEO value evaporates. Proper 301 redirects transfer that value to the new page and keep external links working. This is why site migrations live or die on their redirect map: a complete, correct set of 301s makes a migration invisible to Google; a missing or wrong one tanks traffic overnight.
Redirect best practices
Redirect each old URL directly to its final destination — avoid chains (A→B→C), which slow crawling and leak value; go A→C instead. Map like-for-like where possible (an old product page to the new product page, not just the homepage), since relevant redirects preserve more value. Always test after deploying — and pair this with our XML sitemap generator to resubmit your new URLs, and our AI visibility checker to confirm the new pages are crawlable.
Map old to new before you touch a single rule
The most damaging redirect mistakes happen before any code is written. Redirecting every old URL to your homepage is the classic error: search engines treat a bulk redirect to the homepage as a “soft 404” and quietly drop the ranking equity you were trying to preserve. Instead, build a one-to-one map that sends each old URL to its closest equivalent new page — the old blog post to the new blog post, the old service page to the new service page. Only redirect to the homepage when genuinely no relevant equivalent exists.
Export your live URLs from your CMS, analytics and Search Console first, so you catch pages that still earn traffic or backlinks even if you’d forgotten them. A migration that preserves rankings is really a mapping exercise; the redirect rules this tool generates are just the final step of executing a map you’ve already thought through.
Test, then watch, after you deploy
Once your rules are live, verify a sample with a tool that follows headers — you’re checking each old URL returns a single 301 straight to the final destination, with no intermediate hops and no unexpected 302. Pay special attention to trailing slashes, uppercase versus lowercase paths, and http-to-https plus www-versus-non-www variants, which are the usual sources of accidental redirect chains and loops.
For the fortnight after launch, keep an eye on Search Console’s coverage report and your server logs for a spike in 404s — that’s your early warning that a batch of URLs slipped through the map. Site migrations are high-stakes precisely because a botched redirect map can erase years of ranking equity overnight; if you’re moving a large site, our SEO team handles migration mapping and post-launch monitoring end to end.
Frequently asked questions
What is a 301 redirect?
A 301 is a permanent redirect that automatically sends users and search engines from an old URL to a new one, passing on nearly all of the old page’s ranking signals. It’s the standard way to move or rename a page without losing SEO value.
Do 301 redirects hurt SEO?
No — done correctly they preserve rankings and are essential when URLs change. Problems only arise from redirect chains, redirecting everything to the homepage instead of relevant pages, or using 302s for permanent moves.
Where do I add these redirects?
It depends on your server: Apache uses .htaccess, Nginx uses the server config, WordPress users can import a CSV into the free Redirection plugin, and PHP works on custom sites. Pick your platform above and paste the output in the right place.
What’s a redirect chain and why avoid it?
A chain is when URL A redirects to B, which redirects to C. Each hop slows page loads, wastes crawl budget and leaks a little ranking value. Always redirect straight to the final destination.
Should I redirect old URLs even if they had no traffic?
If they earned any backlinks or were ever indexed, yes — those links still pass value, and an inbound link to a dead page is wasted equity. For URLs with no links, no traffic and no index presence, a clean 410 Gone is often tidier than a redirect, telling search engines the page is intentionally removed rather than moved.
How long should I keep 301 redirects in place?
Treat them as permanent. Search engines can take months to fully transfer signals to the new URL, and external sites will keep linking to the old address for years. Removing a redirect too early breaks those links and any residual equity, so leave established redirects in place indefinitely rather than cleaning them up after a few months.
