Redirects when moving a page

[RickTr]

Hello,

I am moving one of my organization's pages to a new url within the same site. In order to redirect users who have the old url bookmarked and to keep SEO intact, what is the best way of moving the page? Will moving the site and listing the old url as a vanity url or an alias suffice, or will I need to keep the old page intact with a 301 redirect in order to keep SEO intact while redirecting the old url to the new one?

Thanks!

[Raja_Reddy · Accepted solution]

Hi @RickTr  
when moving a page to a new URL within the same site in AEM the best approach is to use a 301 redirect.
Add a 301 redirect in the dispatcher configuration or Apache web server (or CDN level like Akamai) pointing from the old path to the new one.

/old-page-path.html /new-page-path.html R=301,L,QSA,NE,NC]

[SantoshSai]

Hi @RickTr,

When moving a page to a new URL within the same AEM site, preserving both usability and SEO is important. Here’s the best approach:

Recommended Method: 301 Redirect from Old URL to New URL

To ensure SEO value is retained and users with bookmarks or inbound links are properly redirected, a 301 (permanent) redirect is the best solution.

Steps:

1. Move the page to the new URL using AEM's "Move" feature (to update internal references).

2. Set up a 301 redirect from the old path to the new one.

   • This can be done in:

     • Apache Dispatcher rewrite rules (if you use Dispatcher).

     • AEM Redirect Map (via ACS AEM Commons Redirect Map Servlet).

     • Vanity URLs can be used, but they’re not true redirects and don’t pass SEO value, so avoid them for this case.

Example for Dispatcher (Apache):

Redirect 301 /old-page-path.html /new-page-path.html

If Using ACS AEM Commons Redirect Map:

Create a CSV file:

/content/old-path,/content/new-path

Upload it and configure the Redirect Map Servlet accordingly.

Avoid:

• Relying only on vanity URLs or aliases – they help with user-friendly URLs but do not redirect or preserve SEO value.

• Deleting the old page without a redirect – results in 404s and loss of SEO rankings. 

[kautuk_sahni]

@RickTr Just checking in — were you able to resolve your issue?
We’d love to hear how things worked out. If the suggestions above helped, marking a response as correct can guide others with similar questions. And if you found another solution, feel free to share it — your insights could really benefit the community. Thanks again for being part of the conversation!