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Troubleshooting SEOPress Redirects: Why They Stop Working and How to Fix Them

15 threads Sep 16, 2025 Plugin → Seopress – on-site seo

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If you're using the SEOPress plugin for your WordPress site's redirects, you might occasionally run into a situation where they stop functioning. This can be a critical issue, leading to 404 errors for users and negatively impacting your site's SEO. Based on community discussions, here are the most common reasons for redirect failures and how to resolve them.

Common Causes for SEOPress Redirect Issues

  • Plugin or Theme Conflicts: A new plugin or theme update can sometimes interfere with how SEOPress processes redirects.
  • Incorrect Redirect Type: Using a 410 (Gone) redirect can be tricky. Unlike a 404, a 410 must be explicitly set and can be overridden by other sitewide settings, such as attachment page redirects.
  • Regex Complexity: The free version of SEOPress has limitations with complex regular expressions (regex). Advanced pattern matching, often needed for bulk redirects, may not be supported and can cause rules to fail.
  • Query String Arguments: Redirects that need to preserve query parameters (like ?gclid=1234) require specific configuration to work correctly.
  • Server Configuration: On servers running nginx without an .htaccess file, SEOPress handles redirects through PHP, which can be less efficient and sometimes fail under heavy loads or with specific server setups.
  • Misunderstanding Redirect Functionality: Redirects (301, 302) are server-side instructions and cannot be made to "open in a new window." This is a browser behavior controlled by link attributes (target="_blank").

Step-by-Step Troubleshooting Guide

  1. Basic Checks First:
    • Ensure you are using the latest version of WordPress and the SEOPress plugin.
    • Clear all your caching systems, including any server-level cache, WordPress caching plugins, and your browser cache.
  2. Test for Conflicts: Temporarily disable all other plugins and switch to a default WordPress theme (like Twenty Twenty-Four). If the redirects start working, reactivate your plugins and theme one by one to identify the culprit.
  3. Verify Redirect Settings:
    • Double-check the source and target URLs in your SEOPress redirect rules for typos.
    • For redirects with query strings, ensure the "Query parameters" option is set to "Ignore and pass to the redirection" or that your regex pattern correctly matches and carries over the parameters (e.g., using (.*) and $1).
    • If using a 410 redirect, check for any conflicting sitewide rules that might be overriding it, such as a global setting for attachment pages.
  4. Consider Server-Level Solutions: For advanced users with many redirects or a need for complex regex:
    • Apache servers: Manually add redirect rules directly to your .htaccess file for better performance and reliability.
    • Nginx servers: Since SEOPress uses PHP for redirects on nginx, you may need to add redirect rules directly to your nginx server configuration file for optimal performance.
  5. Check User Permissions: The SEOPress team notes that the ability to create redirects from the SEO metabox is a feature of the free version. More advanced redirect features are part of the Pro version. Ensure you are using the correct interface for your version.

When to Seek Further Help

If you have confirmed that a redirect should be working based on the above steps but it continues to fail, the issue may require deeper investigation. The SEOPress team maintains detailed guides on their website for complex tasks like site migration.

For persistent problems, especially with regex or query strings, testing with a dedicated redirection plugin can help isolate if the issue is specific to your SEOPress configuration or a more general server environment problem.

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