Why didn't the redirect work when I clicked the old URL after setting it up?

Please check these three things in order: Is the site published?: Redirect rules only work on published, public websites. Is the path case-sensitive?: If the old URL is /Event and your rule is /event, it will not trigger. Use an Incognito window: If you have previously opened the URL or modified a 301 rule in the same browser, the browser might still have the old cache. An Incognito window is the most accurate way to test.

URL Redirects

About 8 minBeginner

A redirect rule acts like a forwarding notice at your old address: when a visitor clicks an old link you previously printed on posters, shared on social media, or had indexed by Google (e.g., /about-us.html), the system instantly directs them to the new page (e.g., /about), preventing them from seeing a "404 Page Not Found" error.

You don't need to write any code. Simply add a rule in the "Redirect Rules" card at the bottom of "Site Settings › Domain" in your dashboard, and it will take effect on your live website immediately upon saving.

Understand the Two Types of Redirects

In your "Redirect Rules" list, you will see two types of items (fully available on Free, Pro, and Business plans):

Type	Purpose	Manual setup required?	Single site technical limit (same for all plans)
1. System automatic redirect (labeled "System")	Includes two types: (1) Cross-domain redirect (with lock icon): After connecting a custom domain, free URLs (`xxx.kanorio.com`) and secondary domains are automatically redirected to the primary domain via 301 (see ); (2) Page rename/move automatic redirect: When you change the URL of a published page, adjust its parent page, or set it as the homepage, the system automatically redirects the old path to the new one via 301 (you can delete it via the trash icon if no longer needed; if you create a new public page at that old path later, the system will automatically clear the old system redirect).	No, created automatically by the system	Up to 1,000 page rename redirects (cross-domain redirects not included)
2. Custom redirect rules	Manual path redirect: When migrating from an old site or discontinuing products, manually redirect an old path (e.g., `/old-page`) to a new internal path (e.g., `/new-page`) or an external URL.	Yes, manual setup required (the topic of this guide)	Up to 1,000

If you have multiple custom domains connected, your custom path redirect rules will automatically apply to all domains on that website.

Adding and Editing Redirect Rules (Saves Instantly)

Before you begin, ensure your website is published and live (redirect rules only function on public websites):

Go to "Site Settings › Domain" in the left sidebar of your dashboard and scroll to the "Redirect Rules" section at the bottom.
Click "Add Redirect Rule" in the top right to open the settings window (to edit an existing rule, simply click the row).
Fill in "When visitors go to" (the old path):
- The domain and forward slash / are already displayed for you; just enter the path, such as about-us.html or blog/2025-news.
- Smart Capture: If you paste a full URL (e.g., https://yourbrand.com/about-us.html), the system will automatically extract the path for you when you leave the field.
To redirect all sub-pages under a folder, check "Redirect all pages under this path" (see the example in the next section).
Choose "Redirect to" (the new location):
- My Website: Redirects to a new path within the same site (e.g., about; to redirect to the homepage, enter / or leave blank).
- External URL: Redirects to a full URL on another website (e.g., shop.otherbrand.com/event; the system will automatically add https:// if omitted).
Select the "Redirect type" (301 Permanent Move or 302 Temporary Redirect).
Check the "Preview" at the bottom of the window: the system clearly shows "Which URL is opened → Where it jumps to" and the impact on search engines.
Click "Save" in the bottom right. The rule takes effect immediately after saving; no need to click the save button at the bottom of the page.

Testing Tip: After saving, open the old URL in your browser's "Incognito/Private window" to test. Browsers heavily cache 301 Permanent Move redirects; if you have previously modified the same rule, a standard window might remember the old jump result.

Field Details and Advanced Switches

1. "When visitors go to" (Source Path Rules)

Case Sensitivity: /About and /about are treated as two different paths. Please enter the path exactly as it appeared in your old links.
No Query Parameters or Anchors: You cannot enter ? (query parameters, e.g., ?utm_source=ig) or # (in-page anchors) in the source path. However, when a visitor visits with parameters (e.g., /old-page?utm_source=ig), the system will automatically preserve them during the redirect.

2. How to use "Redirect all pages under this path" and "Preserve sub-paths"?

When your old site has an entire folder (e.g., old blog paths were /articles/article-name, and the new site uses /blog/article-name), you don't need to set a rule for every single article. Just use these two switches:

Your goal	"Redirect all sub-pages"	"Preserve sub-paths"	Example (Assuming source is `articles` and target is `blog`)
Redirect a single page only	Off	—	Only `/articles` will redirect to `/blog`; opening `/articles/coffee` will not trigger this redirect.
Migrate an entire section while preserving sub-paths	On	On	Opening `/articles/coffee` → automatically redirects to `/blog/coffee`; opening `/articles/tea` → automatically redirects to `/blog/tea`.
Redirect all old pages in a section to one new page	On	Off	Whether you open `/articles/coffee` or `/articles/tea`, all will redirect to the overview page.

3. Choosing between "301 Permanent Move" and "302 Temporary Redirect"

Redirect type	Analogy	Impact on Google Search ranking (SEO)	When to use this?
301 Permanent redirect (Use this 95% of the time)	Registering a "permanent change of address"	Tells Google: "The old URL has moved permanently. Please update search results to the new URL and pass the ranking authority accumulated over the years to the new URL."	Migrating to Kanorio from an old site, changing page URL paths, or deleting discontinued product pages and redirecting to similar new items.
302 Temporary redirect	Putting a sign on the door: "Closed for renovations this week, please visit the temporary counter next door"	Tells Google: "The original URL will be back in use later. Please do not move the ranking authority."	Time-limited event traffic or using memorable short URLs from posters (e.g., `/vip`) that need to point to different event pages based on the current campaign.

Important Rules: Redirect Priority and Safety Protections

To ensure you have full control over your live site, please note these 4 system rules:

1. Custom redirects "take priority" over existing public pages

In the processing order of your live site, your custom redirect rules execute before displaying a page. This means: if you set a rule "When visitors go to about → Redirect to brand-story", even if your site has an existing public /about page, visitors opening /about will be redirected immediately and will not see the original /about page. This design allows you to redirect traffic to new pages without deleting old ones, or to create short links for campaigns.

2. Which rule takes priority when multiple match?

Single-page precise rules take priority: Rules for a single page (without "Redirect all pages under this path" enabled) always take priority over range-based rules.
Range rules prioritize the "longest, most specific path": If you have a blog range redirect and a blog/events range redirect, when a visitor opens /blog/events/2026, the longer, more specific blog/events rule will be applied.

3. System-reserved paths cannot be overwritten

To protect your site's SEO indexing and functionality, built-in system file paths (e.g., /sitemap.xml, /robots.txt, /rss.xml, /llms.txt, /favicon.ico, etc.) are always handled by the system and cannot be overwritten by custom redirect rules.

4. Automatic "Infinite Redirect Loop" interception

If a redirect rule is accidentally set to "redirect to itself" or "A redirects to B, and B redirects back to A", the visitor's browser will freeze and display a "Too many redirects" error. When you save, Kanorio automatically simulates and intercepts the following errors:

Source and target are the same: e.g., redirecting about to about.
Target falls within a range redirect: e.g., enabling "Redirect all pages under this path" for blog while setting the target to blog/featured (this would cause an infinite loop after jumping to /blog/featured).
Circular redirects: e.g., Rule 1 redirects a to b, and Rule 2 redirects b back to a.

Quick Reference Table for Common Scenarios

Scenario	When visitor goes to	Redirect all sub-pages	Preserve sub-paths	Redirect to	Redirect type
Single page migration (Old site is `.html` or `.php`)	`about_us.php`	Off	—	My site: `about`	`301 Permanent redirect`
Blog section migration (Preserve article paths)	`news`	On	On	My site: `blog`	`301 Permanent redirect`
Redirect old event sub-pages to homepage	`2025-camp`	On	Off	My site:

Pro-tip for moving from an old site: You don't need to set redirects for hundreds of pages that no one visits. If your old site is connected to Google Search Console, simply open your top-performing pages report from the last six months, pick the top 10 to 30 most-clicked old URLs, and set 301 redirects for them. This will preserve over 90% of your search traffic! If you want to move old blog posts into Kanorio, you can first use the "Import from public URL" feature to create the articles, then add the redirects after publishing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Those are "Cross-domain 301 redirects" automatically generated by the system after you connect a custom domain (they consolidate free xxx.kanorio.com URLs and secondary domains to your primary domain). They protect your SEO rankings from being diluted and do not count toward your 1,000-rule limit. You can safely leave them as they are.

Please check these three things in order:

Is the site published?: Redirect rules only work on published, public websites.
Is the path case-sensitive?: If the old URL is /Event and your rule is /event, it will not trigger.
Use an Incognito window: If you have previously opened the URL or modified a 301 rule in the same browser, the browser might still have the old cache. An Incognito window is the most accurate way to test.

Just change the page URL directly in Page & Term Management or SEO & Social Sharing! When you modify the URL of a published page or its parent page, the save confirmation window defaults to creating a 301 permanent redirect for you. The system will automatically direct the old path to the new one, so no manual setup is needed. You only need to manually add redirect rules here when "deleting an old page and wanting to redirect to a different one" or "moving from an external old website."

While a site is unpublished, visitors will see the "Site not public" screen, and redirect rules will be paused; they will automatically resume once the site is republished. If the site remains unpublished for over 60 days or is permanently deleted, the public domain and redirect resources will be cleared (see Unpublishing & Deleting a Site).