Redirects | Why and How

“Hey, the thing you’re looking for has moved — go here instead.”

That’s essentially what a redirect does. It’s a simple concept, but one that makes a big impact. The most obvious benefit? A better user experience. Because let’s be honest, there’s nothing more frustrating than clicking a link only to hit a 404 error. But beyond improved UX, setting up redirects plays a critical role in your site’s SEO performance. Here's how:

• Reduces 404 errors on your site, helping maintain overall SEO health.
• Preserves valuable backlinks, ensuring the authority you’ve earned isn’t lost (and keeping referring sites happy).
• Keeps your analytics clean, avoiding false spikes in broken links and improving data accuracy.

So, how do we do this? 

Shopify 

For product pages, we recommend firstly setting up a generic “sorry we don’t stock this page” Therefore, you can outline that you won't be restocking this product and showcase alternative collections there instead. For other situations, redirect the page to a similar or relevant page.

1. Log in to your Shopify account, then select Content in the LHS menu
2. Select Menus
3. In the top right-hand corner, there is a button  URL redirects
4. You’ll see two fields:
   • Redirect from: e.g. /old-page-url (only the part after your domain name,  no https:// needed)
   • Redirect to: e.g. /new-collection, or even an external link like https://anotherdomain.com/page
     
5. Click Save
   

HubSpot

1. Log in to your HubSpot account and from the top navigation, go to:
   Settings (top right corner)
2. In the left-hand sidebar menu, navigate to:
   Website → Domains & URLs
3. Click the “URL Redirects” tab (top of the page)
4. Click the orange “Add URL redirect” button (top right)
5. Fill in the redirect details:
   • Original URL of the old page path (e.g., /old-page) (Only the path, not the full domain)
   • Redirect to the new page URL (can be internal or external)
6. Choose the Redirect type:
   • Permanent (301) | Use this in most cases (SEO-friendly)
   • Temporary (302) | Use if the redirect is only short-term
7. Click Add redirect to save.

Bonus Tip:

• HubSpot supports both standard and flexible redirects: Standard is a one-to-one path redirect
• Flexible allows for dynamic patterns (great for redirecting entire directories)

Whether you’re using Shopify, HubSpot, or another CMS, redirects aren’t just a cleanup tool. They’re essential for keeping both users and search engines happy.