How to Create URL Redirect in Magento 1 & 2

In Magento, sometimes you need to change (rewrite) an existing URL into a new one. The reason may be:

• The old URL is not user-friendly
• There’s a typo in the old URL
• You have duplicate content issues

In those cases, permanently redirect the old URL into a new one is necessary to make your site more well-structured and perform good in SEO as well as look good in customers’ eyes. This guide is gonna walk you through how to create URL redirect in Magento 1 & 2 via Magento backend and using functions.

Create URL redirect in Magento backend

Magento 1

1. In your Magento backend, go to Catalog > URL Rewrite Management.
2. Click Add URL Rewrite.
3. Magento allows you to create URL rewrite for products, categories, and custom URLs. Select which type of URL you want to rewrite from the dropdown list.
4. If you select For category or For product, you will need to select a specific category or product whose URL you want to redirect.
5. The URL Rewrite Information fields will show up for you to fill in.
   
   • Type: this is Custom by default.
   • ID Path: Enter the same as Target Path. (This will be automatically filled in if you choose For category or For product at previous step)
   • Request Path: Enter the URL of the page to be redirected (the old URL), without the domain name. For example, if you want to redirect the URL https://www.example.com/test/old.html, you only need to enter “test/old.html”.
   • Target Path: Enter the URL of the destination page (the new URL), without the domain name. For example, if you want to redirect the URL https://www.example.com/old.html into https://www.example.com/test/new.html, you need to enter “test/new.html”. (This will be automatically filled in if you choose For category or For product at previous step)
   • Redirect: Select Permanent (301). Unless you really only want to redirect a URL for a short period of time, you should always choose 301 redirect. It’s good for SEO.
   • Description: You can note down the purpose of the rewrite.
6. When you’ve done, click Save.
7. Go to System > Index Management. Check the box at Catalog URL Rewrites. Set the Actions control to “Reindex Data,” and click the Submit button.

Magento 2

1. In your Magento 2 backend, go to Marketing > SEO & Search > URL Rewrites.
2. Click Add URL Rewrite.
3. Magento allows you to create URL rewrite for products, categories, CMS pages, and custom URLs. Select which type of URL you want to rewrite from the dropdown list.
4. If you select For category or For product or For CMS page, you will need to select a specific category or product or CMS page whose URL you want to redirect.
5. The URL Rewrite Information fields will show up for you to fill in.
   
   • Store: Select the specific view where the rewrite applies.
   • Request Path: Enter the URL of the page to be redirected (the old URL), without the domain name. For example, if you want to redirect the URL https://www.example.com/test/old.html, you only need to enter “test/old.html”.
   • Target Path: Enter the URL of the destination page (the new URL), without the domain name. For example, if you want to redirect the URL https://www.example.com/old.html into https://www.example.com/test/new.html, you need to enter “test/new.html”. (This will be automatically filled in if you choose For category or For product or For CMS page at previous step)
   • Redirect Type: Select Permanent (301). Unless you really only want to redirect a URL for a short period of time, you should always choose 301 redirect. It’s good for SEO.
   • Description: You can note down the purpose of the rewrite.
6. When you’ve done, click Save.

Create URL redirect using Magento functions

The redirect functions are available in Mage_Core_Controller_Varien_Action class.

Examples:

Use the redirect functions in your controller class

or

Redirect with path and arguments

Redirect from Model or Observer

Related posts:
How to Change Base URLs in Magento 1 & 2
Why and How to add Canonical URL Magento instead of 301s or 302s?