Squarespace URL Mappings: Setting up 301 or 302 redirects on a Squarespace domain
Setting up 301 or 302 redirects on your Squarespace domain ensures that visitors and search engines are guided to the right pages, even after you've made changes. This keeps your SEO rankings intact and enhances user experience by eliminating dead links.
Keep reading to learn how to easily implement URL redirects on your Squarespace site.
How to create URL redirects on a Squarespace site
Squarespace allows you to easily set up URL mappings to manage 301 and 302 redirects:
In the Home Menu, click Settings, then click Advanced.
Click URL Mappings.
Add the old URL slug, a space, an arrow (->), another space, the new URL, a space, and the redirect type (301 or 302). For example:
/old-page -> /new-page 301
Click Save.
Squarespace URL mapping not working?
Here are the most common problems:
Caching problems.
Clear your browser cache and test again.
If the problem persists try Incognito mode and/or another browser or device.
If you’re in an office it’s possible that there’s a caching device on your network. Test the redirect on another network, such as your cell phone wifi. If it works the office cache will catch up eventually.
The old page is still enabled. Either disable it, rename its page slug or delete it
The old slug contains a domain name. Delete the domain name from the slug so you have a file path with a leading /
The rule is incorrectly formatted:
Check that there are spaces between old slug, arrow, new slug and redirect number
Check that old slug has a leading /
If the new slug is not to an external domain, ensure it has a leading /
If you prepared the rule in another program and copied it over it’s possible that -> was converted into →. Fix by deleting → and typing the two character arrow
A rule earlier in the list is clashing with your new rule
What is a URL Redirect?
A URL redirect is a way to forward traffic from an old or inactive URL to a new, active one. Redirects play an important role in maintaining a good user experience and preserving search engine rankings when content moves or changes on your website.
Squarespace supports the two main types of redirect:
301 Redirects:
These indicate a permanent change and tell search engines that a page has permanently moved to a new URL.
Any SEO "link juice" is passed on to the new page.
301 redirects pass on 90-95% of the old page's ranking power to the new destination, making them essential for preserving hard-earned SEO.
302 Redirects:
These indicate a temporary change, such as when you want to briefly redirect traffic during promotional periods, site maintenance or updates.
SEO link equity is not passed to the new URL.
With a 302, search engines continue to index and rank the original URL, not the temporary destination. No SEO link equity is passed.
Setting up proper redirects is crucial for avoiding 404 "Page Not Found" errors that frustrate users and hurt your site's credibility and search rankings. Luckily, Squarespace makes it easy to manage redirects right in your site's settings.
404 error pages: When to use instead of redirects in Squarespace
If a page no longer exists and you don't need to redirect it anywhere, letting it 404 is fine. Just make sure you have a helpful custom 404 page to assist lost visitors. Only use redirects for pages that have a relevant new destination you want to send traffic to. Redirecting everything to the homepage is not a good user experience.
Tips and best practices:
Use relative URLs that start with a / rather than absolute URLs with the full domain name.
Place specific redirects higher up as mappings are read from top to bottom. A more general redirect like /blog -> /new-blog 301 would override a more specific one below it like /blog/post-1 -> /new-blog/post-1 301.
Avoid redirect chains where Page A redirects to Page B which redirects to Page C. This slows down page loading. Update old redirects to point directly to the current URL.
Regularly audit and clean up your redirects to avoid hitting Squarespace's limit of 1000 URL mappings.
Types of URL redirects
301 Redirects: Permanent redirects
A 301 redirect should be used any time a page's URL permanently changes, such as when you:
Restructure or rename pages
Delete old content
Migrate your site to a new domain
Change from HTTP to HTTPS
302 Redirects: Temporary redirects
302 redirects are used for temporary URL changes, such as:
Running a promotion on a different URL
A/B testing landing pages
Site maintenance or updates
Common scenarios, including real world examples
Temporary promotions
Use a 302 redirect to temporarily send traffic to a promotional URL, then remove it when the promotion ends.
/offers -> /black-friday-offers 302This 302 redirect was used to temporarily swap the offers page for a Black Friday offers page.
Note - The /offers page has to be disabled for the redirect to work.
Temporary Homepage redirect
Homepage redirects are different. You can’t disable a page that has been assigned as the homepage so a 301 or 302 mapping is not possible.
This is because when you assign a page as home a redirect takes place in the background from its actual slug to ‘/’.
The solution is to temporarily make your replacement page the actual home. Once you have done that you can disable the original home to prevent it from being indexed by search engines.
Url change
Set up a 301 redirect from the old URL to the new one to avoid breaking links.
/bootleg-ball-2024 -> /bootleg-ball-giants-of-rock-2024 301This Bootleg Ball event was rebranded as Giants of Rock . We renamed the URL slug and implemented a 301 redirect to preserve linking.
Deleting a page
When deleting content, especially if it has inbound links, you should 301 redirect the old URL to the most relevant alternative page to preserve link equity.
/fatboy-slim-2023 -> /fatboy-slim-2024 301Once the 2023 Fatboy Slim event finished we deleted its sales page and redirected visitors to the 2024 event. This meant that any external links continued to work and SEO link juice is preserved.
Site restructuring:
Use 301 redirects to seamlessly reroute old URLs to the new site structure.
/90s-reloaded[name] -> /weekends/90s-reloaded[name] 301When we migrated to Squarespace there were hundreds or url slugs from the old .Net website that needed redirecting. The [name] part of the redirect is a wild card - it allowed us to redirect dozens of dates in an event category with one rule.
Redirecting to an external site:
Point an old page or domain to a completely different website using a full URL as the destination.
/help-contact/resort-updates -> https://support.domain.com/hc/en-gb/categories/360003228518 301The rule above directed customers to the front page of a support ticketing system.
Moving content between collections
I currently have 2 blog collections /squarespace-tips and /squarespace-tips-archive.
I have a couple of rules to mange moving items from the main blog to the archvie and also, when I rewrite archived posts, promoting pages from the archive to the main blog.
/squarespace-tips/[name] -> /squarespace-tips-archive/[name] 301/squarespace-tips-archive/[name] -> /squarespace-tips/[name] 301The first rule says “if you can’t find an article slug of [name] in the main blog, try to get it from the archive.
The second rule does the opposite - if it’s not in the archive try to get it from the main blog.
There’s a possible problem with recursion here - if I delete a post or rename the slug the two rules will loop.
For renamed slugs:
Insert more specific rules before the two rules above to cope with slug renaming:
/squarespace-tips/oldslug -> /squarespace-tips/newslug 301The above covers for a slug being renamed in the main blog because I don’t rename slugs in the archive.
For deleted posts:
Find a post with a related topic to the deleted one.
Insert more specific rules before the two rules above to cope with slug renaming
/squarespace-tip[name]/deletedslug -> /squarespace-tips/relatedslugThe above rule covers an article being deleted from either the main blog or the archive and redirects to a related article in the main blog.
Ordering redirects for optimal performance
When setting up multiple redirects, it's crucial to order them correctly to ensure the desired behavior and minimize potential issues.
As a general best practice, redirects should be ordered from most specific to most general.
This means that the narrowest, most targeted redirect rules should appear at the top of the list, while broader, more generic rules should be placed further down.
By following this order, you can prevent a general rule from overriding or interfering with a more specific one.For example, consider the following set of redirects:
/blog/post-1 -> /blog/updated-post-1
/blog -> /new-blogIf the general /blog redirect appears before the specific /blog/post-1 redirect, it will capture the request for /blog/post-1 and send it to /new-blog instead of the intended /blog/updated-post-1.
By placing the more specific rule first, you ensure that it takes precedence and the correct redirection occurs.
Additionally, ordering redirects from most specific to most general can help minimize redirect chains. A redirect chain occurs when there are multiple redirects between the initial URL and the final destination.
Each additional redirect in the chain can slow down page loading and dilute the passing of link equity. By prioritizing specific redirects, you reduce the likelihood of unnecessary hops in the redirection process.
Important Note: Redirects require disabling the original URL
For a 301 or 302 redirect to function properly in Squarespace, the original URL can no longer exist as an active page on your site. This means you need to either:
Delete the original page
Disable the original page
Change the original page's URL to something different
If the original URL is still an active page, Squarespace will ignore the redirect and continue showing the original page's content when that URL is visited.
So before setting up a 301 or 302 redirect, always double check that you've disabled or renamed the original page first. Only then will Squarespace properly forward the old URL to the new destination you've specified in your URL Mappings.
Preserving UTM parameters during Squarespace redirects
When migrating a website to Squarespace and setting up redirects from old URLs, it's important to ensure that any URL tracking parameters, such as utm_ variables, are properly preserved.
However, querystrings are not part of a url and get stripped out.
Say you had a page:
https://mysquarespacesite.com/offers?utm_source=partnera&utm_medium=banner&utm_campaign=oneA redirect to a temporary Black Friday offers page might look like:
/offers -> /black-friday-offers 302 This would redirect the page but all of the tracking code would be lost
This problem can be resolved by using a hash # instead of the query ?
https://mysquarespacesite.com/offers#utm_source=partnera&utm_medium=banner&utm_campaign=oneTroubleshooting Squarespace URL Redirects
Some common issues and how to resolve them:
Invalid redirect format: Make sure to include spaces between each element and use the correct arrow characters. The correct format is /old -> /new 301.
Redirects not working: Clear your browser cache and test in an incognito window. If still not working, check for typos, incorrect domains, or circular redirects.
Too many redirects: Audit and remove any outdated or unnecessary redirects to stay within the limit. Avoid long redirect chains.
Redirect loop: This happens when Page A redirects to Page B which redirects back to Page A. Remove one of the redirects to break the loop.
If issues persist, reach out to Squarespace support for further assistance. But in most cases, careful proofreading and following the proper redirect format will ensure smooth sailing.
By understanding how to properly use 301 and 302 redirects in Squarespace, you can preserve your site's SEO, provide a seamless user experience, and avoid dreaded 404 errors. While no one loves dealing with redirects, Squarespace fortunately makes managing them as painless as possible.
Can you explain 301 and 302 redirects in layman’s terms?
Imagine you're in charge of a post office and need to forward some mail:
301 Redirect (Permanent):
A 301 redirect is like when someone permanently moves to a new address. They fill out a change of address form at the post office. From now on, any mail that gets sent to their old address will be forwarded to their new permanent address. The old address is no longer used. Example: Let's say Bob moves from 123 Oak St. to 456 Maple Ave. He submits a change of address form. Now, any letters sent to 123 Oak St. will be permanently forwarded to 456 Maple Ave. The post office knows Bob no longer lives at the old address.
302 Redirect (Temporary):
A 302 redirect is more like when someone goes on vacation. They put in a temporary forward at the post office to have their mail sent to their vacation home while they're away. However, their permanent address hasn't changed. After vacation, mail will stop being forwarded and start going to their regular address again.
Example: Alice is taking a 2-week trip. She asks the post office to forward her mail from her regular address at 789 Elm Rd. to the hotel she'll be staying at: 555 Ocean Blvd. During those 2 weeks, mail sent to 789 Elm Rd. will instead go to 555 Ocean Blvd. But once Alice's vacation is over, mail will once again be delivered to her regular address on Elm Rd. Her permanent address never changed.
So in summary:
A 301 redirect is a permanent change of address. The old location is no longer used.
A 302 redirect is a temporary forwarding. The original location is still the permanent address.
This same concept applies to web pages. A 301 redirect means a page has permanently moved, while a 302 redirect means it's a temporary change and the original URL is still the real home of the page.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I use a 301 redirect to change a URL on my Squarespace website?
When you want to change the URL of a page on your Squarespace website, using a 301 redirect is essential. This type of redirect is permanent and informs search engines that the page has moved permanently to a new location. It helps to maintain the SEO value of the page and ensures that visitors are redirected to the correct URL structure. To set up a 301 redirect, Squarespace users can navigate to the "Settings" menu, select "Advanced," and then "URL Mappings."
What steps are needed to create a URL redirect on a Squarespace website?
Creating a URL redirect on a Squarespace website involves several steps. First, determine the old URL and the new destination URL. Next, use a 301 redirect to ensure that the change is recognized as permanent. This can be done in the URL Mappings section of your site settings. For Squarespace users, it’s important to use the correct URL structure to avoid any redirect loops or errors.
Can I use 301 redirects in Squarespace to redirect to another URL within the same website?
Yes, you can use 301 redirects in Squarespace to redirect one URL to another within the same website. This is often used to manage URL changes after updating the Squarespace templates or altering the site’s URL structure. To do this, Squarespace users should access the URL Mappings feature and specify the old URL followed by the new URL, ensuring that the redirect is permanent.
How can I redirect users from an old URL to a new URL on my Squarespace website?
To redirect users from an old URL to a new URL on your Squarespace website, you will need to set up a 301 redirect. This tells browsers that the page has moved permanently and should automatically send visitors to the different URL when they click the old link. Squarespace users can create this redirect from the built-in and custom URL section under Settings, ensuring that website visitors experience a seamless transition.
What are the best practices for using redirects on Squarespace?
Using redirects on Squarespace effectively involves a few best practices. Firstly, always use a 301 redirect for permanent URL changes to guide search engines and visitors to a different URL effectively. Secondly, Squarespace users should avoid creating redirect chains where one URL redirects to another and then another, as this can interfere with the redirect process and slow down the site. Lastly, ensure the redirect link is correctly formatted in the URL Mappings section to prevent errors.
How can I ensure my 301 redirects on Squarespace do not interfere with my website’s performance?
To ensure that 301 redirects do not interfere with your Squarespace website’s performance, it is crucial to limit the number of redirects to what is absolutely necessary. Additionally, Squarespace users should verify that each redirect link is correctly set up to avoid unnecessary redirect chains or loops. Regularly reviewing and updating the redirects can also help maintain optimal website performance and ensure that visitors are directed to the correct permanent URL.
