Initial commit — SEO Guidelines & SmartCrawl reference

SmartCrawl plugin reference (11 docs): - Overview, configuration, titles & meta, schema, sitemaps, social/OG, redirects, breadcrumbs, content analysis, hooks/filters, known issues SEO strategy playbook (6 docs): - Keyword research, per-page-type selection, on-page optimization, local SEO, technical SEO, content strategy Reusable templates (3): - Site audit checklist, keyword research worksheet, page optimization checklist Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
2026-04-17 13:32:17 -05:00
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+# Redirects
+
+SmartCrawl's Redirects module manages URL redirection from within WordPress, without editing `.htaccess` or server config. Found under Advanced Tools > Redirects.
+
+## Redirect Types
+
+| Code | Type | When to Use |
+|------|------|-------------|
+| **301** | Permanent | Page permanently moved. Passes ~90-99% of link equity. Default choice. |
+| **302** | Temporary | Page temporarily moved. Does not pass link equity permanently. Use for A/B tests, maintenance. |
+| **307** | Temporary (method preserved) | Like 302 but preserves the HTTP method and body. Rare use case. |
+
+**Default recommendation:** Always use **301** unless you have a specific reason for temporary.
+
+## Creating Redirects
+
+### Basic (Plain Text)
+
+1. Go to SmartCrawl > Advanced Tools > Redirects
+2. Click "Add Redirect"
+3. Enter the **source URL** (old URL path, e.g., `/old-page/`)
+4. Enter the **destination URL** (new URL, e.g., `/new-page/` or full URL)
+5. Select redirect type (301/302/307)
+6. Save
+
+### Regex Pattern
+
+Switch to "Regex" mode for pattern-based redirects:
+
+```
+Source: /blog/(\d{4})/(\d{2})/(.*)
+Destination: /blog/$3
+Type: 301
+```
+
+This redirects dated blog URLs to non-dated versions.
+
+**Regex tips:**
+- Test patterns on [regex101.com](https://regex101.com) before applying
+- Use capture groups `()` and backreferences `$1`, `$2`, etc.
+- Some users report regex patterns not working despite being valid — test thoroughly
+
+### Wildcard Redirects
+
+Use regex mode for wildcards:
+
+```
+Source: /old-section/(.*)
+Destination: /new-section/$1
+Type: 301
+```
+
+This redirects all URLs under `/old-section/` to `/new-section/` while preserving the path.
+
+## Auto-Redirect Deleted Posts (v3.9.0+)
+
+Enable this to automatically create a 301 redirect when a post or page is deleted. The redirect points to:
+- The parent page (if it was a child page)
+- The homepage (if no logical parent)
+
+**Recommendation:** Enable this to prevent 404s when content is removed.
+
+## Bulk Import/Export
+
+### Export
+- SmartCrawl exports redirects as JSON
+- Useful for backing up redirects before changes
+
+### Import
+- Import redirects from JSON file
+- Useful when migrating between sites or restoring from backup
+
+### Bulk Edit
+- Change redirect types in bulk (e.g., convert all 302s to 301s)
+- Delete all redirects at once (use with caution)
+
+## Pro Features
+
+### Location-Based Redirects
+
+With SmartCrawl Pro + MaxMind GeoIP database:
+- Redirect visitors based on their country or region
+- Example: Redirect Canadian visitors to a `.ca` domain
+- Requires MaxMind DB configuration in settings
+
+## When to Use Redirects
+
+| Scenario | Action |
+|----------|--------|
+| Page URL changed | 301 from old URL to new URL |
+| Page deleted, replacement exists | 301 to the replacement page |
+| Page deleted, no replacement | 301 to the most relevant parent or category page |
+| Site migration (domain change) | 301 all old URLs to new domain equivalents |
+| HTTP to HTTPS migration | 301 all HTTP URLs to HTTPS (better handled at server level) |
+| www to non-www (or vice versa) | 301 (better handled at server level) |
+| Temporary maintenance | 302 to a maintenance page |
+| A/B testing | 302 to the test variant |
+| Consolidating duplicate content | 301 all duplicates to the canonical version |
+
+## Common Redirect Chains to Avoid
+
+A redirect chain is when URL A redirects to URL B, which redirects to URL C. This wastes crawl budget and dilutes link equity.
+
+**Bad:** `/old-page/` → `/newer-page/` → `/newest-page/`
+**Good:** `/old-page/` → `/newest-page/` (and `/newer-page/` → `/newest-page/`)
+
+When adding a new redirect, check if the destination already has a redirect pointing elsewhere. If so, update the chain to point directly to the final destination.
+
+## Known Limitations
+
+| Issue | Workaround |
+|-------|-----------|
+| Cannot reorder redirects | Delete and recreate in the desired order |
+| Regex patterns sometimes fail | Test on regex101.com first; try simpler patterns |
+| No 404 monitoring (Free) | Pro includes a site crawler that detects 404s |
+| No redirect chain detection | Manually audit for chains |
+| Large redirect lists can be slow | Consider moving high-volume redirects to `.htaccess` or server config |
+
+## Best Practices
+
+1. **Always redirect, never delete** — A 404 loses all SEO value the old URL had
+2. **Redirect to the most relevant page** — not always the homepage
+3. **Audit redirects quarterly** — remove redirects for URLs that no longer receive traffic
+4. **Keep redirect lists manageable** — if you have 500+ redirects, consider server-level handling
+5. **Test after creating** — visit the old URL in an incognito window to verify the redirect works
+6. **Check redirect response code** — use [httpstatus.io](https://httpstatus.io) or browser dev tools Network tab