Configure 301 redirects from your old website to your PWA

What this online help covers:
This online help explains how to redirect the addresses of your old website (WordPress, Wix, Shopify…) to the pages of your PWA, the web version of your app. You will see how to add 301 redirects one by one or import them from a CSV file, understand the messages, publish, check the result and manage your list.
Before you start:

• Your PWA has been published at least once: Publish > PWA > Publish
• The pages you redirect to are published in your app.
• The domain name of your old website is connected to your app, or will be when you switch over. See Connect your custom domain to your GoodBarber app
• You have the list of your old website's addresses, for example its sitemap.
• You have access to Publish > PWA > SEO. Can't see the Redirects tab? Ask the app owner for this access.

Expected result:
Each old address leads to the right page of your app, for visitors and search engines alike.

A redirect links an old address of your website to a page of your app. When a visitor or Google opens the old address, your PWA immediately sends them to the new page. This is a 301 redirect, also called a permanent redirect: it tells Google that the page has moved for good.

Example: https://www.mysite.com/2019/05/my-article/ leads to the article recreated in your app, https://www.mysite.com/blog/i/48213/my-article.

Things to know:

• The page of your app comes first. A redirect only applies to an address that isn't already a page of your app.
• Redirects are for your migration. For a permanent address of your app, like /promo, use the URL rewriting tab instead: it always takes priority over a redirect. See Configure URL rewriting and slugs
• Nothing changes online until you publish your PWA.
• Your app accepts up to 10,000 redirects, including those not published yet.
• Keep your redirects for at least a year. This is the period Google recommends after a change of address.

1. Go to the menu Publish > PWA > SEO :: Redirects
2. Click Add a redirect.
3. In Old address, paste the address of the page on your old website: the full address, or just its path, for example /2019/05/my-article/.
4. In Destination, choose the page of your app it should lead to: a section, a category or a content item, already published. You can also choose External link, for a page on another website.
5. Click Add.

The message “Redirect added.” confirms the addition.

As you type, the old address is checked. The way it will be saved appears under the field, for example “Saved as /2019/05/my-article. Capital letters and the final slash don't matter.” If the redirect is refused, the reason appears in the same place: see the most common messages below.

In an eCommerce app, the first Destination list also offers products.

For a migration, import all your old addresses at once from a CSV file. Nothing is added until you have reviewed the summary.

Prepare the file

• Two columns: the old address, then its destination.
• The old address: the full address, or just its path.
• The destination: the path of a page of your app, or the full address of an external link. To find the path of a page, open it in your PWA and copy its address from the first “/” after the domain name, for example /blog/i/48213/my-article.
• Up to 10,000 lines. The separator is detected automatically: comma, semicolon or tab.
• A header line is ignored, and so are any columns after the second one.
• Save the file in CSV format, from Excel or Google Sheets for example.

Sample file:

Old address;Destination
/2019/05/my-article/;/blog/i/48213/my-article
/about-us.html;/about
/shop/;https://shop.mysite.com

The import window also offers a template: Download a sample file.

Import the file

1. Go to the menu Publish > PWA > SEO :: Redirects
2. Click Import.
3. Drop your file in the Drop your CSV file here, or choose it area.
4. Review the Check before importing summary. Each line is sorted into To add, Refused, Warnings or Already in your list. A refused line shows its reason, and Download the report gives every line of the file with its result.
5. Click Add … redirects: the button shows the number of lines to add.

The import continues in the background: you can leave the page. When it is done, the list comes back with a message like “1,247 redirects added.”

Good to know

• Nothing is overwritten: an old address already in your list is never changed. To replace the whole list with a corrected file, click Delete all, import the new file, then publish: your previous redirects stay online until that publication.
• Refused lines don't stop the others from being added. Fix them in your file, then import it again: the lines already added go to Already in your list, and only the fixed lines are added.
• If the import fails, nothing is added: import the file again.
• If some sections change address at your next publication, the summary shows “Publish before importing.”: publish first, then import your file, so that your redirects lead to the new sections.

Each redirect is checked when it is added, by hand or from a file. A refused redirect is not added. A warning, on the other hand, still adds it and tells you about a consequence.

Message	What to do
“Destination not found. If you just created this page or changed its address, publish your app first.”	The destination is not a published page of your app: it may have just been created, or its address may have just changed. Publish your app, then try again. In a file, also check the destination path and the order of the columns.
“Already a page of your app (the section News): the redirect would never apply.”	This address already opens a page of your app, which comes first. No redirect is needed.
“Already redirected to My article. Edit it”	This old address already leads to another page. To change its destination, edit the existing redirect with the Edit it link. For a whole file, replace the list instead (see Good to know, above).
“Addresses with parameters (?id=12…) can't be redirected.”	Remove the part that starts with “?”: the redirect will also apply to the variants with parameters. Addresses like /?p=123 (WordPress) all lead to the Home of your app: they can't be redirected one by one.
“A file address can't be redirected.”	Only pages can be redirected, including .html or .php pages. Images and documents (.jpg, .pdf…) can't.
“Applies only if old-site.com points to your app.”	Warning: the old address is on a different domain from your app's. The redirect will work once that domain is connected to your app. If that is planned, there is nothing to do.
“Too many redirects to the home page: Google treats them as missing pages (“soft 404”). Choose the page that replaces each address instead.”	Warning: more than 20 redirects lead to the Home of your app. If no page replaces an old address, choose the closest one.
“Split your file: 10,000 lines at most.”	Your file has more than 10,000 lines. Split it, or keep the old addresses that matter most: those that get visits or links.
“Limit of 10,000 redirects reached.” or, in the tab, “You've reached the limit of 10,000 redirects. Delete the ones you no longer need to add new ones.”	Your app already has 10,000 redirects, including those not published yet. Delete the ones you no longer need, or empty the list with Delete all before importing a complete file.

The other messages tell you what to do, for example “Save your file as CSV.”

Your additions, edits and deletions have no effect online until you publish. Until then, the online version still applies.

1. Go to the menu Publish > PWA > Update
2. In the list of changes, click See the details if needed: each change has its own line, for example The redirect « /2019/05/my-article » has been added or 1,247 redirects have been imported.
3. Click Update.

These lines disappear right away, and your redirects apply online within the next few minutes.

Wait for an import to finish before publishing: an import in progress doesn't go online.

1. A few minutes after the update, open a private browsing window.
2. Enter a full old address, for example https://www.mysite.com/2019/05/my-article/.
3. Check that the right page of your app opens, with its new address in the address bar.

Private browsing keeps your browser from showing a copy of the page it kept in memory. To see the 301 code itself, use an online redirect checker.

On a large screen, the list also shows Last used under the old address: the last time the redirect was used.

If the old address doesn't redirect, check that:

• the update is published;
• the domain of the old address is connected to your app;
• no message appears under the redirect in the list.

If everything is in order, run the update again: each publication sends your whole list.

In the following weeks, keep an eye on the Pages report in Google Search Console: the addresses reported as “Not found (404)” are the ones that don't have a redirect yet. To help Google discover your new pages: Submit your PWA sitemap to Google

Each line links an old address to its destination. On a large screen, the old address is followed by the date it was added and its last use. The counter, near the search field, shows the total and the maximum, for example “1,284 redirects · 10,000 maximum”.

The destination address
The list shows the published address of the destination: the one the redirect currently leads to. The redirect follows the page: if you rename its section, it still leads to the right place.

Two notes can appear in blue under this address, with the information icon:

• “Section renamed: this address will be updated at your next publication.” You renamed the destination's section but haven't published yet. Nothing to do: the address is updated at the next publication.
• “This content comes from another website, which it names as the original (canonical address): Google will credit that website, not your app.” The destination is a content item from an external source, for example an RSS feed. The redirect still works. For a destination whose canonical address belongs to your app, we recommend choosing a content item from a CMS section.

Messages to watch

• In red under the destination: the page has been deleted or isn't published. Your visitors land on the “Page not found” screen: choose another destination.
• In orange under the destination, “At your next publication, … will become the address of another section, and this redirect will lead to …”: you changed section addresses without publishing. The redirect follows its page to its new address; if it should lead to the other section instead, click Edit it.
• In orange under the old address, “Doesn't apply: this address already opens …”: the old address has become a page of your app, which comes first. The redirect does no harm: delete it, or keep it so that it applies if the page disappears.

Search for a redirect
The Search for an address field finds an old address or a destination address, as the list shows them. It doesn't search page titles.

Edit or delete a redirect

1. Click the 3 dots to the right of the redirect.
2. Choose Edit, change the old address or the destination, then click Save. Or choose Delete, then confirm.

Like an addition, the change applies online at the next publication. Once the deletion is published, visitors to the old address land on the “Page not found” screen.

Delete all

1. Click Delete all, next to Import.
2. In the “Delete all redirects?” window, click Delete all.

The whole list is emptied, even if a search is in progress: the window gives the total number of redirects. A message like “1,284 redirects deleted.” confirms the deletion. Your published redirects stay online until your next publication; visitors to these old addresses then land on the “Page not found” screen.

The button doesn't appear during an import: it comes back once the import is finished.