Website redirect options

Redirects guide subscribers and search engines from an old URL to the correct one. They’re important for maintaining SEO authority and ensuring visitors always land on the right page, especially if you’ve updated a page URL or migrated from the legacy builder.

The new Website Builder makes redirects simple by automatically creating them when you change page slugs/paths, and by giving you simple tools to build custom redirects, set up wildcard rules, and manage 404 fallbacks.

In this article, you’ll learn:

• What the different redirect methods available are.
• How automatic redirects work when you change page URLs.
• How to create and manage manual redirects.
• How to set up 404 redirects for a better subscriber experience.
• How to use wildcard patterns and test your redirects.

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Types of redirect methods

There are 3 methods to build redirects within beehiiv: 

• Automatic: Redirects that are automatically created for you when you change a custom page slug. For example, if you update /untitled to /untitled123, the original /untitled URL will automatically redirect to the new one.
• Manual: Custom redirects you create from the Redirect page in the Website Builder. They can be simple one-to-one redirects or advanced wildcard patterns.
• 404 redirects: A 404 is a fallback destination you can set for visitors who land on a missing page. This improves subscriber experience and helps maintain SEO authority.

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Changing a custom page URL creates an automatic redirect

When you update the URL of a custom page in the new builder, a redirect will be automatically created, no extra steps needed. This ensures your existing links continue to work.

To change a custom page URL:

1. Open the new Website Builder. From the left panel, click on the Settings icon, then select on All settings. 
   
   
   

2. In the left settings panel, scroll down and select a custom page you want to create a redirect for. 

   Tech Note: Redirects only work for custom pages. You won’t be able to change the URL or create a redirect for default or dynamic pages, so be sure to scroll down past both default and dynamic pages to select a custom page.
   

3. Under the Page Settings, update the Title and enter a new URL. Be sure to include the full URL (e.g., https://www.mydomain.com/blog). 

   Reminder: Redirects are automatic upon entering them here. The new URL goes live immediately, and the old URL will automatically redirect to the new one
   
4. Once added, your fully updated URL will display below the URL text field for reference.
   
   
   
5. Afterward, the redirect will be logged in the Manage redirects tab of your Redirects dashboard. 
   
   
   

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How to use 404 redirects

A 404 redirect lets you set a fallback destination when someone lands on a page that doesn’t exist; for example, if you remove a page, rename a URL, or a subscriber mistypes a link. Setting up a 404 redirect helps prevent dead ends and protects your SEO.

On your publication site, you can choose to have your 404 redirect to your homepage, or set a custom 404 landing page for more control over the subscriber experience.

To set up a 404 redirect:

1. Open the new Website Builder. From the left panel, click on the Settings icon, then select on All settings. 
   
   
   
2. Under Site Settings, click on Redirects. 
   
   
   
3. Under 404 Redirect, enter your preferred redirect URL. Make sure that you enter the full URL, including https://. 
   
   
   
4. Your changes will save automatically. Once added, any visitor who reaches a 404 page will be redirected to your chosen destination.

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Managing redirects from your dashboard

The Redirects dashboard in your website settings gives you full control to build, edit, enable, disable, or delete any redirect.

To manage redirects:

1. Open the new Website Builder. From the left panel, click on the Settings icon, then select on All settings. 
   
   
   
2. Under Site Settings, click on Redirects. 
   
   
   
3. Navigate to the Manage redirects tab to see all the redirects you’ve created. 
   
   
   
   
   Each redirect includes:

• Old Path: The original URL before the redirect.
• New Path: The new URL the redirect points to.
• Method: How the redirect was created (auto, manual, or 404).
• Type: Displays the type of redirect. A 301 permanent redirect notifies search engines the page has permanently moved.
• Created Date: The date you created the redirect.

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Redirect edit options 

From the Manage redirects tab, you can enable or disable a redirect by toggling it on or off.

To the right of each toggle, you’ll see options to Edit or Delete each redirect. 

Edit a redirect’s path by clicking the pencil icon. Once finished, click on ✓ Update redirect to save changes.


Delete a redirect by clicking the trashcan icon, then confirm again by clicking Delete.

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Building a redirect 

From your Redirects dashboard, you can use the Build redirect tab to create new redirects, including simple path-to-path mappings to more complex, dynamic wildcard rules. 

To build a redirect:

1. Enter your old path and new path.
2. Click on ✓ Build redirect to finalize.
   
   
   

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How simple redirects work

Simple redirects function like automatic ones, but give you more flexibility to customize your redirect strategy.

Here are a few examples of simple redirects:

• Old path: /products/old-item → New path: /products/new-item
• Old path: /old-page → New path: /parent-page/new-page

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How wildcard patterns work 

Wildcard patterns let you redirect groups of related URLs without creating individual rules for each one. They’re especially useful for date-based URLs or when migrating a blog.

In beehiiv, you can use * as a placeholder to match any path segment (the text between slashes). Each * becomes $1, $2, and so on in your new path. You can combine multiple wildcards to capture multiple segments. 

Here are a few wildcard examples: 

Single wildcard: 

• Old path: /blog/*
• New path: /articles/$1
• Result: /blog/my-awesome-post → /articles/my-awesome-post

Multiple wildcards: 

• Old path: /*/*/*/*/
• New path: /p/$1-$2-$3-$4
• Result: /2024/01/15/my-post → /p/2024-01-15-my-post

Mixed wildcards: 

• Old path: /docs/*/guides/*
• New path: /help/$1/$2-guide
• Result: /docs/api/guides/authentication → /help/api/authentication-guide

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Testing your patterns and redirects

The Test patterns tab in your Redirects dashboard provides a sandbox environment to test and verify that your redirects work as expected, which is especially helpful for wildcard patterns.

To test a redirect:

1. Enter a test path in the text field.
2. Click on the Test button.
   
   
   
   
   Your path will be tested against your existing redirects. If no redirects match the test path, you’ll get a message confirming that the visitor would see a 404 error. 
   
   From there, you can:

• Create a new redirect.
• Adjust an existing redirect.
• Configure a specific 404 redirect instead.
  
  
  

If the redirect does match an existing redirect, you’ll see: 

• Which rule it matches.
• The resulting redirect destination.
• Any captured wildcard values (for example, $1 = “my-awesome-post”)