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Fixing Common Yoast SEO Redirect Issues: A Troubleshooting Guide

41 threads Sep 7, 2025 Plugin → Yoast seo

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Yoast SEO is a powerful tool for managing your WordPress site's search engine optimization. However, one of the most common and frustrating issues users encounter involves unexpected redirects. These can range from category pages redirecting to the homepage, pagination links breaking, to lost password forms being misdirected. This guide will help you understand why these redirects happen and provide practical steps to resolve them.

Why Does Yoast SEO Create Unexpected Redirects?

Based on community reports and troubleshooting threads, most unexpected redirects stem from a few specific features within the Yoast SEO plugin:

  • Crawl Optimization Settings: This feature, designed to make your site more efficient for search engines, can automatically disable or redirect certain types of pages like RSS feeds, author archives, date archives, and search result pages.
  • Canonical URL & Link Handling: Yoast SEO manages canonical URLs to prevent duplicate content. In some cases, this can lead to unintended redirects if it incorrectly identifies a 'preferred' version of a page, especially on URLs with specific parameters.
  • Media Attachment Pages: By default, Yoast SEO disables media attachment pages (which WordPress creates for every uploaded image) to prevent thin content issues. It redirects these attachment URLs directly to the media file itself, which can sometimes be mistaken for a broken redirect.
  • Conflicts with Other Plugins/Themes: Conflicts, especially with page builders like Oxygen Builder or Divi, WooCommerce, or multilingual plugins like WPML, can cause Yoast's redirect logic to behave unpredictably.

How to Troubleshoot and Fix Yoast SEO Redirects

1. Check and Adjust Crawl Optimization Settings

Many redirect issues, particularly with feeds, author archives, and search pages, originate here.

  1. Navigate to Yoast SEO > Settings > Advanced (Sidebar) > Crawl Optimization.
  2. Review the settings. Common culprits include:
    • Remove feed links: Disabling this may restore your RSS feeds.
    • Disable author archives: If author pages are redirecting to the homepage, ensure this is not enabled. You may need to enable and configure author archives under Yoast SEO > Settings > Advanced > Author archives.
    • Remove category feeds: Disable this if your category feeds are redirecting.
  3. Toggle these settings off, save changes, and test if the redirect issue is resolved.

2. Perform a Conflict Check

If the issue is not in the Crawl Optimization settings, a plugin or theme conflict is likely.

  1. Switch Themes Temporarily: Activate a default WordPress theme like Twenty Twenty-Four. If the redirects stop, the issue is with your theme.
  2. Deactivate Plugins: Deactivate all plugins except Yoast SEO. If the redirect issue is resolved, reactivate your plugins one by one to identify the one causing the conflict.
  3. Pay special attention to conflicts with WooCommerce, page builders (Divi, Oxygen Builder), and multilingual plugins (WPML).

3. Clear All Caches

Redirects can be cached by your browser, your WordPress caching plugin, or your server. After making any changes:

  • Clear your browser's cache and cookies.
  • Clear any caching from your WordPress plugins (e.g., WP Rocket, W3 Total Cache).
  • Purge your server-level or CDN cache (e.g., Cloudflare).

4. Verify the Redirect Source

Use a tool like httpstatus.io or Redirect Inspector to trace the redirect. These tools will often show if "Yoast SEO" is in the x-redirected-by header, confirming the plugin is the source.

5. Reset Yoast SEO's Data (Advanced)

In cases of site migration or corrupted data, resetting Yoast's optimized data can help. The Yoast SEO team suggests this can resolve issues where old data (like server paths from a previous domain) persists in tables like wp_yoast_indexable and wp_yoast_seo_links.

Warning: It is crucial to create a full backup of your site and database before proceeding.

  1. Go to Yoast SEO > Tools.
  2. Under "Optimize Data," click the "Start SEO data optimization" button. This process may take some time.

When to Seek Further Help

If you have tried all the steps above and the issue persists, your specific case may require more advanced investigation. When seeking help in community forums, be prepared to provide:

  • The exact URL where the redirect is occurring.
  • A screenshot of the results from a redirect tracing tool like httpstatus.io.
  • A list of your active plugins and your theme name.
  • Any custom code or filters you are using.

Most redirect issues with Yoast SEO can be resolved by carefully reviewing its settings and checking for conflicts. By methodically working through these steps, you can regain control over your site's URL structure and functionality.

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