301 redirects and .htaccess for Jacksonville websites.
When URLs change in a redesign, migration or cleanup, redirects carry your visitors and your rankings to the new pages. We map, build and test redirects, and clean up the chains and loops that slow sites down.
What redirects and .htaccess do.
A redirect tells browsers and search engines that a page has moved. A 301 means permanently moved, and passes the old page’s ranking signals to the new one. A 302 means temporarily moved. Google treats long-lasting redirects of either kind as a strong signal, but using the right one makes your intent clear.
.htaccess is a configuration file used by Apache and LiteSpeed web servers, which host many WordPress sites. It can hold redirect rules, force HTTPS, pick www or non-www, and set caching. On Nginx servers the same rules live in the server configuration, and on WordPress many redirects can be managed through a redirect plugin.
# Force HTTPS and a single domain version
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^www\. [NC]
RewriteRule ^ https://example.com%{REQUEST_URI} [L,R=301]
# One old page to its new home
Redirect 301 /old-services/ https://example.com/services/When redirects matter most.
Website redesigns
New page structures change URLs. Without a redirect map, every old link and ranking points to a 404. See website redesign and our guide to redesigning without losing rankings.
Platform migrations
Moving from Wix, Squarespace or an old CMS to WordPress or Shopify almost always changes URL formats.
Domain and HTTPS changes
New domain names, rebrands, and HTTP-to-HTTPS or www consolidation.
Consolidating content
Merging thin or duplicate pages into one stronger page, with the old URLs redirected to it.
Discontinued services or products
Sending retired pages to the closest relevant page, or returning a 410 when nothing replaces them.
Fixing links others point to
Old URLs that other sites still link to, recovered with a redirect so that link value isn’t lost.
Redirect problems we fix most often.
Chains and loops
Redirects that hop through three or four URLs, or circle back on themselves, slow pages down and waste crawling.
Everything sent to the homepage
Mass-redirecting old pages to the homepage is often treated by Google as a soft 404, so the old rankings are lost anyway.
Temporary redirects used permanently
302s left in place for years after a permanent move.
Redirects removed too soon
Google recommends keeping redirects for at least a year; we usually keep them indefinitely.
Rules in three places
.htaccess, a plugin and the host’s dashboard all adding redirects that conflict with each other.
Internal links still pointing at old URLs
Redirects work, but internal links should be updated to the final URL.
Our redirect service.
Redirect map
Every old URL, from your sitemap, Search Console, analytics and backlinks, matched to its best new page in a spreadsheet you approve.
Implementation
Rules added in the right place for your server or platform, with HTTPS and domain consolidation handled in one hop.
Testing
Every redirect checked for the correct status code, a single hop and the right destination before and after launch.
Monitoring
Search Console 404 and indexing reports watched for the weeks after a launch, with fixes as Google recrawls.
Rated 5.0 on Google by 33 clients.
10+ years in business and 100+ websites and apps launched. Every site we build launches with a clean robots.txt, an XML sitemap, structured data and Google Search Console connected, and our own site scores in the 90s on Google’s mobile PageSpeed test.
FAQ
What is a 301 redirect?
A permanent redirect that sends visitors and search engines from an old URL to a new one and passes the old page’s ranking signals to the new page.
Will redirects keep my Google rankings after a redesign?
Correct one-to-one redirects to equivalent pages preserve most ranking signals. Rankings can still move while Google recrawls, and pages that lose content can lose rankings. A proper redirect map is the single most important step in a redesign.
What is an .htaccess file?
A configuration file used by Apache and LiteSpeed web servers for rules such as redirects, HTTPS enforcement and caching. A single typo in it can take a site offline, so changes should be tested.
How long should I keep redirects?
Google recommends at least a year. We usually keep them permanently, because other sites may link to the old URLs for years.
Should I redirect deleted pages to my homepage?
Generally no. Redirect to the closest relevant page. If nothing replaces it, a 404 or 410 is more honest, and Google often treats mass homepage redirects as soft 404s.