301 Redirects Guide for PowerPlatformTip

How to Use jekyll-redirect-from Plugin

The jekyll-redirect-from plugin is now enabled in this Jekyll site. It allows you to easily handle 301 redirects for broken URLs.

Setup Complete ✅

How to Add Redirects

Method 1: In Post/Page Front Matter

Add old URLs to any post or page using the redirect_from front matter:

---
title: "My Post Title"
date: 2023-01-01
redirect_from:
  - /old-url/
  - /another-old-url/
  - /yet-another-url/
---

Method 2: Redirect TO a Different Page

Use redirect_to to send users from this page to another:

---
title: "Old Page"
redirect_to: /new-page/
---

Fixing the 42 × 404 Errors

Steps to Implement

  1. Identify the broken URLs from Google Search Console
    • Export the list of 42 URLs returning 404 errors
  2. Find the correct target page for each broken URL
    • Determine where each URL should redirect to

  3. Add redirects using one of these methods:

    Option A: Add to target page front matter

    ---
title: "Correct Page Title"
redirect_from:
  - /broken-url-1/
  - /broken-url-2/
---

    Option B: Create a redirect page in _pages/ directory

    ---
permalink: /broken-url/
redirect_to: /correct-page/
sitemap: false
---

Common 404 Error Patterns to Check

Based on common Jekyll issues, check for these patterns:

1. Trailing Slash Issues

/article/post-name  → should redirect to → /article/post-name/

2. Date Format Changes

/2023/01/post-name/  → should redirect to → /article/category/2023/01/01/post-name/

3. Category Changes

/old-category/post-name/  → should redirect to → /new-category/post-name/

4. Renamed Posts

/old-post-title/  → should redirect to → /new-post-title/

5. Feed URLs

/category/feed.xml  → should redirect to → /feed.xml

Example Redirect Implementations

Example 1: Single Post with Multiple Old URLs

---
title: "Power Apps Guide"
date: 2023-06-15
permalink: /article/powerplatform/2023/06/15/power-apps-guide/
redirect_from:
  - /powerapps-guide/
  - /2023/power-apps/
  - /articles/power-apps-guide/
---

Example 2: Consolidated Content

If you merged multiple posts into one:

---
title: "Complete Power Automate Guide"
redirect_from:
  - /power-automate-basics/
  - /power-automate-advanced/
  - /power-automate-tips/
---

Example 3: Renamed Category

Create a page in _pages/redirects/:

---
permalink: /old-category/post-name/
redirect_to: /new-category/post-name/
sitemap: false
---

Testing Redirects

After adding redirects:

  1. Build the site locally: 
    bundle exec jekyll build

  2. Check the _site folder for generated redirect pages

  3. Test locally: 
    bundle exec jekyll serve
# Visit http://localhost:4000/old-url/ and verify redirect
  4. After deployment, test each redirect: 
    curl -I https://powerplatformtip.com/old-url/
# Should return: HTTP/1.1 301 Moved Permanently
# Location: https://powerplatformtip.com/new-url/

Bulk Redirect Implementation

For the 42 × 404 errors, create a checklist:

Monitoring

After implementing redirects:

  1. Google Search Console:
    • Check “Coverage” report
    • 404 errors should decrease over 2-4 weeks
  2. Server Logs (if accessible):
    • Monitor 404 responses
    • Look for patterns in broken URLs
  3. Analytics:
    • Check if redirected pages show traffic
    • Verify no redirect loops

Additional Resources

Notes