Redirecting 404 Content Not Found Using All in One SEO

Did you know that All in One SEO can automatically redirect content that resolves to a 404 Not Found error?

This may be useful for your visitors if you don't want them seeing a 404 Not Found error page. However, we recommend instead creating a custom 404 page like the one on our site shown below:

Custom 404 page shown on the All in One SEO website

A 404 Not Found error happens when content that was published on your site at a specific URL is no longer there.

This can happen because the content was deleted, or the URL was changed so the content can no longer be found at that URL.

Tutorial Video

Automatic Redirects to the Home Page or Custom URL

To get started, go to Redirects in the All in One SEO menu and then click on the Settings tab.

Settings tag in the Redirection Manager in All in One SEO Pro

Scroll down until you see the Advanced 404 Settings section.

Advanced 404 Settings section in All in One SEO

Click on the Advanced 404 Settings toggle to view the settings.

Advanced 404 Settings section showing the settings

Click on Enable Default 404 Redirect to enable All in One SEO to redirect any 404 Not Found error page.

You'll see an option to redirect to your home page, or redirect to a custom URL.

Redirect 404s to the home page setting

If you select Custom URL, you'll see a field where you can enter the relative or full URL for where you want to redirect to.

Redirect 404s to a custom URL setting

Select option you prefer, and enter a URL if you're using the Custom URL setting and click Save Changes.

Automatic Redirects to the Parent Page or Category

To get started, go to Redirects in the All in One SEO menu and then click on the Settings tab.

Settings tag in the Redirection Manager in All in One SEO Pro

Scroll down until you see the Advanced 404 Settings section.

Advanced 404 Settings section in All in One SEO

Click on the Advanced 404 Settings toggle to view the settings.

Advanced 404 Settings section showing the settings

Click on Redirect 404's to the Parent Page or Parent Category to enable All in One SEO to redirect any 404 Not Found error page to the parent of this content.

Redirect 404's to the Parent Page or Parent Category setting

This means that for Pages or other hierarchical post types, if the page has a parent page then we'll redirect to the parent. For Posts or post types with a taxonomy, we'll redirect to the category that the post is in.

If you have a WooCommerce store, then you should enable the WooCommerce Support setting to redirect WooCommerce Products to their category.

WooCommerce Support option in Advanced 404 Settings

Smart Slug Redirects Using All in One SEO

The Smart Slug Redirect setting will try to redirect 404's by checking the slug in your WordPress database. This is useful if you've changed your permalink structure, moved content between post types, or changed the permalink using any other method.

Click on Smart Slug Redirect under Advanced 404 Settings to enable this feature.

Check out more documentation on our Redirection Manager here.

This feature was added in All in One SEO version 4.2.4. There's no legacy documentation available.