Are you planning to migrate your eCommerce store to BigCommerce? If yes, that’s great! BigCommerce is a versatile eCommerce platform and perfect for scaling your eCommerce business.
But when you migrate your store to BigCommerce, your current URLs might change, and your website visitors may encounter old URLs which does not exist anymore. This affects your website ranking and also affects your user experience.
This is where BigCommerce 301 redirects come in handy to guide users and search engines to the new location of your eCommerce store.
In this guide, we will explain why 301 redirects are necessary for your migration success. We will also equip you with the knowledge to navigate this digital relocation like a pro.
Let us start by understanding why you need 301 redirects during a migration.
When migrating your website to BigCommerce, 301 redirects are crucial. They tell search engines that your old pages have permanently moved to new locations.
Without them, your site can lose its hard-earned SEO value. Users trying to access old URLs may face dead ends, which leads to a bad user experience.
They help preserve inbound links, preventing the loss of valuable backlinks that contribute to your site’s authority.
BigCommerce 301 redirects help you move your web traffic to its new web address and preserve your ranking and audience.
For a smooth, seamless transition, consider our eCommerce migration services.
During a BigCommerce migration, mapping URLs and creating redirects is crucial for a smooth transition.
URLs are web pages’ addresses, if you change them without proper redirection, might confuse visitors as well as search engines. This can also affect your website’s ranking.
Redirects ensure that when someone tries to access an old URLs, they are automatically sent to the new one.
This is also important for maintaining search engine rankings, as search engines use URLs to index and rank pages.
Your online store can vanish from search results without redirects, harming visibility and traffic.
When migrating your eCommerce website, plan thoroughly, redirect old URLs to new ones, update internal links, and ensure consistent content.
In addition, prioritize mobile responsiveness, submit updated sitemaps to search engines, monitor crawl errors, and maintain a robust 301 redirect strategy.
You should regularly check Google Search Console for issues, fix broken links promptly, and optimize page load speed.
Furthermore, communicate the migration to your audience through various channels and leverage social media to redirect traffic.
Monitor keyword rankings, address any fluctuations promptly, and update backlinks. Test the new site extensively before launch to catch and resolve potential issues.
To mitigate adverse SEO effects and minimize traffic reduction during and after migration, you must continuously monitor and proactively make adjustments.
Setting up 301 redirects in BigCommerce includes creating redirection rules to ensure that users and search engines are directed from old URLs to new ones. If you are not familiar with redirections, you should get help from a professional digital marketing company.
Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you set up 301 redirects in BigCommerce:
Go to the BigCommerce login page and enter your credentials to access the control panel.
In the left sidebar in the control panel section. Find the domain and click “301 Redirects”.
Once in the “Redirects” section, you should see the Redirects Manager. This is where you can set up your 301 redirects.
Look for an option to add a new redirect or create a new rule. This is typically a button like “Add Redirect” or “Create Redirect.”
In the redirect creation form, you must specify the old and new URLs. The old URL is the URL that no longer exists; the new URL is where you want users to be redirected. Ensure that you include the full path, including any subdirectories.
Select the type of redirect manual.
Save the redirect once you have filled in the necessary information. There should be a “Save” or “Create Redirect” button at the bottom of the form.
After saving the redirect, test it to ensure it’s working as expected. Open a web browser and enter the old URL. You should be automatically redirected to the new URL.
If you have multiple redirects to set up, repeat the process for each one. Make sure to cover all the necessary URL changes.
Periodically review and manage your redirects. If there are changes in your site structure or URL format, update and redirect accordingly.
If you have a large number of redirects to set up, consider using the CSV import feature if available. This allows you to upload a CSV file containing all the old and new URLs and their corresponding redirect types.
Download the sample CSV file from the Import tab for a better understanding of how redirect data is formatted.
Remember that setting up 301 redirects is crucial for maintaining SEO rankings and assuring a seamless experience for your website visitors during a site migration or when making changes to your URL structure. Always double-check your redirects to ensure they are working correctly.
Our team of BigCommerce experts and SEO experts can help you migrate your store seamlessly and set proper redirections.
Schedule a Free ConsultationApart from the above method we saw, the eCommerce platform provides a way known as ‘Soft 404 Redirects’ to redirect users to a suitable page on your eCommerce store.
For instance, if you have removed a certain page on the website or have a low-content page, it can be found in the ‘Soft 404’ redirect section.
When you set 404 redirect, the user will be redirected to the specific category or the product page on the store, instead of showing the 404 not found.
Now, you might have a question, how to achieve this?
To establish the 404 redirects, you have to go to Settings -> Server & Domain – > Soft 404 Section. Then, follow the steps given in that section.
Migrating your eCommerce store to BigCommerce can be a good move for growth, but don’t overlook the importance of 301 redirects. They help you preserve your SEO value and user experience.
You can ensure a correct and successful BigCommerce migration and keep your customers happy by following the steps in this guide and taking 301 redirects seriously.
We hope this guide helps you efficiently implement BigCommerce 301 redirects. If you still have any doubts about BigCommerce 301 redirects or any other related topic, feel free to contact us!
WebDesk Solution is an experienced BigCommerce development company and a BigCommerce-certified partner that can help you with the implementation of proper 301 redirects for smooth migration.
No matter what stage you are in, we would love to talk to you about your project. No pressure, no obligation, just straight talk and helpful insight.
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