Storefront | URL Redirects

The URL Redirects section in Orbit allows you to send visitors from an old web address to a new one. Redirects use a 301 (permanent) status, which preserves your search engine ranking and stops visitors and search engines hitting broken links.

From here you can review every redirect on your store, create new ones by hand, and edit or delete existing entries.

What a URL redirect does

A 301 redirect tells browsers and search engines that a page has moved for good. When someone visits the old URL, they are sent straight to the new one instead of seeing a 404 (page not found) error. Because the redirect is permanent, search engines pass the ranking value of the old page on to the new page, so you keep the traffic and authority you have built up.

Accessing URL Redirects

To access URL Redirects:

• From the left-hand menu, go to Storefront.

• Select Redirects.

The URL Redirects page will open, showing all of the redirects on your store.

URL Redirects overview

Each redirect is shown as a row in the list. The list has the following columns:

• From — the old URL path that visitors are coming from, such as /old-product.

• To — where visitors are sent. This is usually a path on your store, but it can also be an external web address.

• Source — whether the redirect was added by hand (Manual) or created for you by Orbit (Auto).

• Created — the date the redirect was added.

Where a redirect points to an external website, a small link icon is shown next to the destination.

Manual and auto-created redirects

Redirects come from two places:

• Manual — redirects you create yourself, for example when you retire a campaign page or move content to a new address.

• Auto — redirects Orbit creates for you automatically. Whenever the handle of a product, page, category, or blog post changes, Orbit adds a redirect from the old address to the new one so existing links keep working.

You can tell the two apart at a glance using the Source column. Auto redirects can still be edited if you need to, but bear in mind that renaming the same item again may create further entries.

Searching redirects

Use the Search field to find a redirect by its From or To path. This is useful once your store has built up a large number of redirects.

Creating a redirect

To create a new redirect:

1. Click Create redirect in the top right of the page.

2. In the From path field, enter the old URL path. This must start with a forward slash, for example /old-product.

3. In the Redirect to field, enter the destination. Enter a path beginning with a forward slash for somewhere on your store, or a full web address (such as https://example.com/help) to send visitors to an external site.

4. Click Create redirect to save.

The redirect takes effect straight away, and the new entry appears in the list with a Source of Manual.

Editing a redirect

To edit a redirect, click its row in the list. You can change the From path and the Redirect to destination, then click Save changes. Editing is handy when a destination moves again or you need to correct a typo in a path.

Deleting a redirect

To delete a single redirect, click the bin icon at the end of its row. To remove several at once, tick the redirects you want and click Delete. Be careful when deleting redirects, as visitors hitting the old URL afterwards will get a 404 error instead of being sent on to the new page.

Tracking redirect usage

Orbit records a hit count for each redirect, which counts how many times it has been followed. This helps you see which old URLs are still receiving traffic and which redirects are no longer needed.

Why URL Redirects are important

Redirects keep your store tidy and your links working as your catalogue and content change over time. Without them, renamed or retired pages would leave visitors and search engines facing broken links, and you would lose the ranking value of those pages.

By using URL Redirects, you can:

• Preserve your search engine ranking when content moves

• Stop visitors landing on 404 error pages

• Send old or external links to the right place

• Let Orbit handle redirects automatically when handles change

If you have any questions, please contact us at support@orbitcommerce.net