Redirects, 404 Monitor & URL Medic
Manage 301/302 redirects, log 404 errors, and auto-heal internal links — including the workflow to turn 404 log entries into redirect rules in one click.
Before you start
Three utilities under SEO Rank Genius → Tools & Analytics → Utilities keep your URLs healthy:
- URL Redirects — create and manage 301/302 rules.
- 404 Monitor — log missing URLs visitors hit.
- URL Medic — auto-update internal links when slugs change and scan for broken links.
You need Administrator access. Redirects work even when monitoring is off — but the 404 → Redirect workflow needs both 404 Monitor and URL Redirects enabled.
URL Redirects
Manage permanent (301) and temporary (302) redirects, track hit counts, export CSV, and import from other plugins.
Open: Tools & Analytics → Utilities → URL Redirects
| On | Source URL | Target URL | Type | Hits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| /old-blog-post/ | /blog/new-post-slug/ | 301 | 142 | |
| /services-old/ | /services/ | 301 | 89 | |
| /promo-2024/ | /promo-2026/ | 302 | 12 |
Click Add Redirect to create a rule. Toggle the On switch per row to enable or disable without deleting. Use REGEX mode for pattern-based redirects.
404 Monitor
Tracks URLs that return 404 errors — with referrer, hit count, last seen time, and bot detection. Turn monitoring ON to start logging.
Open: Tools & Analytics → Utilities → 404 Monitor
| URL | Referrer | Hits | Last Seen | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| /old-product-page/ | google.com | 47 | 2 hours ago | Create Redirect |
| /wp-content/uploads/2023/file.pdf | — | 23 | 1 day ago | Create Redirect |
| /tag/deprecated/ | facebook.com | 8 | 3 days ago | 🤖 BOT |
Click Create Redirect on any row to pre-fill a new redirect rule with the 404 URL as the source. Use Ignore for bot noise or URLs you intentionally removed.
URL Medic
Automatically updates internal links when you change a post slug, scans for broken internal links, and can auto-create 301 redirects on slug changes.
Open: Tools & Analytics → Utilities → URL Medic
URL Medic settings
- Auto-Update Links — when you change a post slug, internal links across your site update automatically in the background.
- Auto-Create Redirects — creates a 301 from the old slug to the new one when a post URL changes.
Run Scan Now to find broken internal links. Suggested fixes appear with an Apply button per match. Activity is logged under the Activity Log tab and in URL Medic Activity on the Activity Log page.
Workflow: 404 → Create Redirect
The most common fix loop connects 404 Monitor and URL Redirects:
Enable both tools
Turn ON 404 Monitor and URL Redirects (Utilities section).
Wait for real traffic
404s appear as visitors (or bots) hit missing URLs. Sort by Hits to prioritize high-traffic errors.
Click Create Redirect
On the 404 row, click the redirect button — source URL is pre-filled. Enter the correct target URL and save as 301.
Verify & ignore bots
Test the old URL in a private browser tab. Ignore or filter bot-only 404s that don’t need redirects.
Troubleshooting
Redirects not working
Confirm the master ON toggle is enabled, the rule is active (toggle in table), and no server-level redirect (nginx/Apache) conflicts. Clear caching plugins after adding rules.
404 Monitor empty
Monitoring must be ON and something must hit a missing URL. Visit a fake path on your site to test logging.
URL Medic didn’t update links
Large sites queue updates in the background — check Activity Log. Ensure Auto-Update Links is ON before changing slugs.