NetChimp

Cheap Web Design, Search Engine Optimisation & Conversion Rate Optimisation

  • Start Here
  • About
  • Clients & results
  • Services
    • Website Reviews
    • Web Site Design
    • Website Conversion
    • Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
    • Ways To Pay For Your Website
  • Portfolio
  • Articles
    • Useful Resources
    • Conversion Rate Optimistation (CRO)
    • IR35
    • Joomla!
    • Marketing
    • Search Engine Optimision (SEO)
    • Usability
    • Web Design
    • WordPress
  • Learning Zone
    • Free Report
  • Contact
You are here: Home / Search Engine Optimision (SEO) / WordPress blog move or URL redirect

Last Edited : June 2, 2016

WordPress blog move or URL redirect

WordPress is in my sub-directory – doh!

I installed a WordPress blog in the

[pre_pretty]/webdesign[/pre_pretty]

sub-directory of my web server during development but then decided that I want the website to be at the root.

This was because up to 10% of your link juice may be lost using a redirect from the root of a domain to a sub-directory. So instead of the website appearing at:

[pre_pretty]www.cheapcheapweb.co.uk/webdesign[/pre_pretty]

I wanted it to appear at:

[pre_pretty]www.cheapcheapweb.co.uk[/pre_pretty]

I thought I needed to physically move the WordPress files

I am experienced at using Joomla but am fairly new at using WordPress so I approached it in a slightly different way than a WordPress expert (probably because I am not an expert!)

  1. My first assumption was that, like Joomla, the WordPress files would need to physically be moved. They don’t!
  2. I then thought that any backlinks would need to be redirected via .httaccess. They don’t!

Google provided results about old versions of WordPress that didn’t help

After a Google search I found a few articles saying that I needed to change wp-config.php. I tracked the file down but the lines mentioned in these articles didn’t exist in my version of WordPress. This lead me to conclude that a change had been made in the way WordPress handles directories so most of the results were probably useless.

I did find a clue in another post over at semilogic which said:

[pre_pretty]Log into the old site, browse Settings / General, and change both of the site urls.[/pre_pretty]

You can make the change within WordPress without editing files

I checked out the WordPress Admin area mentioned and found there was an option to set a different WordPress root location – even if you keep WordPress in a sub-directory.

This sounded brilliant – exactly what I was after – and is something that Joomla would do well to copy. I often develop sites in a sub-directory and having the option to make this appear as if the files were at the root would be great.

I updated the site address to:

[pre_pretty]www.cheapcheapweb.co.uk[/pre_pretty]

I then followed the link to this article on giving WordPress it’s own directory and followed the instructions carefully – particularly steps 7 – 9. I then clicked save and it all worked!

However, this left me with backlinks going to the old URL’s.

Redirecting the backlinks

Using my Joomla experience I assumed I would need to add redirects into .htaccess – but this didn’t work.

To be honest this didn’t surprise me as the .htaccess file seemed to be built to do the URL redirect (above) . This left me with the scary option of trying to figure out  how to re-write it to redirect a couple of incoming backlinks or try and find another solution.

A plugin will handle it!

This is when I found a very handy redirection plugin that does 404 and 301 redirects from within WordPress itself. Really neat and easy to implement! I like it because it could even be used to create easy to remember URL’s to make it easy for people to find specific posts.

It is a pretty basic plugin but it works perfectly. Problem solved!

Did you find this article helpful?

If you found this article helpful please take a moment to tweet, like, or share this article by using the buttons at the top or bottom of this page. I’d really appreciate it. 🙂

Recommended Articles


You may also like

Prototype Your Web Design And You Will Save Money
Change length of WordPress blog summary
5 things your customers want


You may also like

18 low cost ideas to increase your sales
Estate Agents Website Design
Bespoke CMS Development
Prototype Your Web Design And You Will Save Money
Bespoke Content Management System Website Design

Filed Under: Search Engine Optimision (SEO), Tips, WordPress Tagged With: change wordpress domain, how to, move wordpress, tips, wordpress

About Kevin Craighead

Hi! My name is Kevin Craighead and I am the guy behind NetChimp.

I have been working in the computer industry since 1988 although my love of electronics goes back even further to my first experience of Pong in the late 70's.

Comments

  1. article says

    November 27, 2012 at 5:20 am

    Very nice article, totally what I needed.

    Reply
  2. Clipping Path Service says

    October 2, 2012 at 8:50 am

    Very impressive.awesome post.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

About Me

kevin craighead netchimpHi! My name is Kevin Craighead and I am the guy behind NetChimp. I have been working in IT since 1988 but my love of gadgets goes back to my first experience of Pong in the late 70's.MORE →

Popular Stories & Tips

Contact Details

  • ADDRESS:
    Cirrus Building, 6 International Avenue, ABZ Business Park, Dyce, Aberdeen AB21 0BH
  • PHONE:
    01904 230477
  • OFFICE HOURS:
    Mon - Fri 9:30 am to 5:30 pm.

Company Details

  • REGISTERED ADDRESS:
    Change Accountants, 2 Forest Farm Business Park, Fulford, York YO19 4RH
  • COMPANY NO:
    Registered in England and Wales: 7632651

Web Design Links

  • Web Design York
  • SEO York
  • Web Design Aberdeen
  • Web Design Hull
  • Web Design Sheffield
  • 50 Incredible Tips For A Successful Website

Contact Details

NetChimp, Cirrus Building, 6 International Avenue, ABZ Business Park, Dyce, Aberdeen AB21 0BH

CALL:
01904 230 477

OFFICE HOURS:
Mon - Fri 9:30 am to 5:00 pm.

Recent Posts

  • How To Setup WordPress for AMP: Accelerated Mobile Pages
  • Is Your Website Underperforming?
  • How Much Should a Website Cost?
  • How to add Google AdSense Responsive Ads to WordPress
  • Consequences And Responsibilities Of IR35 Regulations

©2019 NetChimp Limited. All rights reserved | See us on Google Earth | Web Design York | Small Business Web Designer | Web Design in York

We use cookies to personalise content and ads, to provide social media features and to analyse our traffic. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners.Accept
Cookie Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT