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7 Best Free 404 Redirect Plugins for WordPress (2024)

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Are you looking for a free 404 redirect plugin for WordPress?

The 404 error is a common error that shows up when a user types a wrong URL or visits a page that no longer exists. This is not good for user experience and may also impact your website’s SEO rankings.

In this article, we will share some of the best free 404 redirect plugins for WordPress that you can use to fix 404 errors.

wordpress redirect plugins

Why Is Your WordPress Site Showing a 404 Error?

Before you start fixing a 404 error, it is important to understand why WordPress outputs this error message.

Often, beginners ask us why their WordPress website is showing a 404 error for existing posts. It is one of the common WordPress problems that beginners encounter.

Here are just a few of many possible reasons that can cause existing content to show 404 errors.

1. Changes in the URL Structure

WordPress comes with support for an SEO-friendly URL structure.

If you make changes to the URL structure, it will change the entire link structure of your website. Sometimes, this is why your site shows a 404 error, even on existing posts.

2. Missing or Corrupt .htaccess

Another reason for mysterious 404 errors for existing content is a missing or corrupt .htaccess file.

If you installed a new plugin, created a new custom post type, or registered a custom taxonomy, accessing the new URL may result in a 404 error because your .htaccess file is not up-to-date.

3. Moving Your Website to a New Domain

Aside from the reasons above, if you have recently moved from WordPress.com to WordPress.org or moved WordPress to a new domain, it may cause the site to show 404 errors.

4. A Post or Page was Deleted or Moved

On the other hand, if you delete a post or page, then it will output a 404 not found error page.

Similarly, changing the URL of a blog post and not updating the internal links to the new location could lead to a 404 error.

Fix 404 Error With a WordPress Redirect Plugin

The best way to fix 404 errors is by redirecting users to a new location. You should also inform search engines about the new location of those posts and pages by adding a 301 redirect header message.

This allows you to offer a great user experience and not lose your search engine rankings.

Now, let’s look at some of the most popular 404 redirect plugins for WordPress that can help you manage these issues.

1. SeedProd

SeedProd website builder

SeedProd is the best WordPress website and theme builder. It has a drag and drop landing page builder that helps you create all types of landing pages.

Among its many features, SeedProd lets you build custom 404 pages. It has beautiful 404 error page templates you can use as a starting point.

Ready to use custom 404 page templates for WordPress

It connects with all popular email marketing services and allows you to convert lost traffic into email subscribers.

The plugin also lets you enable 301 redirects for your 404 page. When you build a 404 page, simply enable the redirect mode from the settings and enter the URL where you want to redirect your audience.

You can add anything you want to your 404 page template. For example, you might add different blocks for images, videos, buttons, and headlines, enter a countdown timer, opt-in form, and more.

A big benefit of using SeedProd is that it doesn’t rely on your WordPress theme. This means you can use any design you want to create an impressive 404 page.

2. All in One SEO Redirection Manager

All in One SEO

All in One SEO is the most popular and best WordPress SEO plugin on the market. It comes with a redirection manager addon to manage 301 redirects, track 404 errors, and fix dead-ends.

The plugin automatically sends users from old URLs to new URLs. This setting also applies to search engines, so you will never lose website traffic.

All in One SEO makes it easy to add source URLs and target URLs manually. You can also use their automatic redirect feature to ensure that users and search engines find your new content whenever you delete a post or change its URL.

Automatic redirects

It also lets you redirect multiple URLs to the same page. This helps with switching domains and moving your content to a new website.

AIOSEO also tracks redirects and creates a log with complete redirect information about the visitor, browser, and referrer within your WordPress dashboard. It tracks 404 redirects on your website and allows you to fix problems.

It is a complete solution that not only helps with redirects but improves your search engine rankings to grow your website traffic.

3. Redirection

redirection 404 redirect plugin for wordpress

Redirection is a powerful WordPress plugin that allows you to easily set up redirects for your 404 pages. It comes with a built-in option to track 404 errors that have occurred on your website since you installed the plugin.

Redirection lets you use powerful regex to match URL patterns and redirect them to appropriate pages. This is useful if you have moved a site with a different URL structure to WordPress.

We have written a complete guide on how to track 404 pages and redirect them in WordPress using the Redirection plugin.

While this plugin is great, the one thing you want to be careful of is the 404 logging setting.

If you don’t set it up properly, this plugin can make your database heavy. Aside from that, this is a great plugin and is 100% free.

4. 404page

404page wordpress redirect plugin

404page is a slightly different WordPress plugin compared to others on our list. It helps you create 404 pages but does not offer redirection.

404 error pages in WordPress themes are usually pretty dull and not very helpful.

There are ways you can improve the 404 templates in WordPress. However, they require you to use code and edit the template file.

The 404page plugin allows you to select an existing page from your WordPress site and use it as a 404 page. It is an excellent plugin if you just want to build custom 404 pages.

5. Custom 404 Pro

custom 404 pro wordpress redirect plugin

Custom 404 Pro is a minimalistic WordPress plugin that is easy to use and is 100% free. It lets you set up 404 redirects quickly and in just a few clicks.

You can redirect your pages to an existing page or a specific URL. In addition, the plugin supports 301, 302, 307, and 308 redirects.

Another benefit of using Custom 404 Pro is that it logs your 404 errors and even sends an email to the site’s admin when it logs an error. This is a valuable feature that helps you fix broken links on your website.

6. 301 Redirects

301 redirects free wordpress plugin

301 Redirects is another popular WordPress redirect plugin. Its user-friendly interface makes it super simple to set up and manage 301, 302, and 307 redirects in WordPress.

The plugin ensures that your website remains SEO-friendly and users get a great experience by redirecting them from a 404 error page to any page of your choosing.

301 Redirects offers multiple options to select a redirect location. You can send your visitors to a post, page, media, or a custom URL.

Besides that, 301 Redirects lets you import and export redirect rules. This allows you to easily migrate from another plugin to 301 Redirects.

While the plugin is easy to use, it does not log 404 errors yet. You will see a tab for 404 error log in the plugin, but it will show a message saying ‘coming soon’.

7. Safe Redirect Manager

Safe Redirect Manager

Safe Redirect Manager is a free WordPress plugin to manage 404 redirects on your website. It is built for speed and performance and only allows up to 250 redirects.

Out of the box, the plugin doesn’t include many options for customization, but it does come with actions and filters, so developers can customize it easily.

The plugin’s configuration to manage redirects is easy and simple. You can find all settings in the Tools section of your WordPress admin area.

Which Is the Best 404 Redirect Plugin?

404 errors are common issues that many WordPress website owners face, and we believe that All in One SEO is the best 404 redirect plugin you can choose.

It makes it easy to find 404 errors and manage your redirects, no matter how many you need to set up. Unlike other 404 redirect plugins, All in One SEO offers the most customization features.

SeedProd is also a great option for building a custom 404 page. Their drag-and-drop landing page builder lets you create stunning 404 pages for your website and easily redirect visitors to a new location.

Plus, it integrates with email marketing services and allows you to grow your email list instead of losing website traffic.

We hope this article helped you find the best free 404 plugins for your WordPress site. You may also want to check out our other guides that help improve your WordPress website.

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Editorial Staff

Editorial Staff at WPBeginner is a team of WordPress experts led by Syed Balkhi with over 16 years of experience in WordPress, Web Hosting, eCommerce, SEO, and Marketing. Started in 2009, WPBeginner is now the largest free WordPress resource site in the industry and is often referred to as the Wikipedia for WordPress.

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Reader Interactions

23 CommentsLeave a Reply

  1. Syed Balkhi says

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  2. NicCrockett says

    You might want to update this list. 404page was discontinued as of October 2023. This was the “Smart Custom 404 error page [404page]” plugin. It currently still works with WordPress 6.4.2 and is a great plugin. I hope someone forks it but you might want to be careful suggesting a plugin that has been retired.

  3. Zeshan says

    Wpbeginner is the best website, Thank you so much Sir, I wish I would gave you something in return for this article..

  4. Muhammad Junaid says

    I have deleted posts, tags, and categories. Do I need to create a redirect for that because I am getting 404 not found or should I ignore that error? And If the redirect is to be created then should it be redirected to the homepage if there is no relevant post or page to the deleted one?

  5. Maria Spyrou says

    Hi there! Thanks for yet another great article! I have a question. More than a month ago, I created four 301 redirects with the Redirection Plugin. However, although the redirection is successful, the old URLs still show in Google search results and, if clicked, they lead to 404 pages. When will Google stop ranking the old URLs or how can I get rid of the 404 pages for good? Would flushing my permalinks or the All 404 Redirect to Homepage plugin do the trick or is the problem a lot more difficult to fix? I hope I am making sense. Thanks in advance!

    • WPBeginner Support says

      Hi Maria,

      If redirection was working fine, then you are not supposed to get 404 error. Please see the URLs you have added in the Redirection plugin and match them with the URLs you see in search results.

      Admin

  6. Scofy says

    i used 404 redirection to homepage at my blog but when some clicks my post from google,it redirects to homepage instead of the post, how can this be solved

  7. dr chand says

    hi, i want to delete more posts in my wordpress site which method is good 410 or 404,what are the basic precautions can i take to delete,..

  8. Stanford A. Griffith says

    SEO Redirection appears to be paid only now; your link to the WP repository doesn’t work for it. It’s now on Code Canyon for $18.

    I’ve been using Redirection, but I really hate how its support forums go completely unanswered. Also, the 404 errors list doesn’t show number of hits but only chronological order. That’s just not very helpful if you’re trying to see how many times people are trying to reach contact-us instead of contact. Is there a way to accomplish this? I swear I used to use a plugin that did that, but I cannot figure out what it was. Redirection does track the number of times a URL redirection has happened, but that’s different.

    Thanks!

  9. Vanhanle says

    I had install All 404 to homepage for my site . And it processed very good. My site index on google very well

  10. Elisabeth says

    Hello and thank you for this nice post. I have some questions. For several reason, i have to put some posts back to draft status (because i didn’t want to delete them, i manage some real estate which come and go on the market, this is the reason why “they would come and go” online or in draft and back again when they would be available. And now Google informs me of a 404 error on those ones.
    – Is the 404 error caused by the fact those posts are backed to drafts status?
    – Is there another better solution to do it?
    – Is there a possibility to tell Google those backed to draft posts are temporary unavailable but would be online again using another redirecting way than 301 (which seems definitive as i might understand or 410 which is not exactly what i’m searching for because i would like:
    1) may be desindex temporary those posts but i guess i will loose seo “juice”
    2) or may redirect user to other proposals during the period the property would be unavailable.
    3) is a better solution consists on deleting those posts and creating them back again when property would be available (but again i loose seo juice).
    Thank you so much for answer, i search for any answer on web but i guess i didn’t find it. Congrats by the way for your advices, it’s always a pleasure to read them. Pertinent and clear, you make our life lighter!

    • WPBeginner Support says

      Yes it will give 404 error. Have you considered cloning your post keep the copy in the draft. Edit the original one with a message that this entry is temporarily unable.

      Admin

      • Elisabeth says

        Thank you very much for answer. Nice idea but the fact is it won’t satisfy user navigation when he would arrive on a lot of unavailable properties, not good at all for satisfaction nor bounce behaviour.
        My goal would be not to show those temporary unavailable, keep them in back office until they would be available again, without google’d mention them as 404, as google has already indexed them when at first they were available.
        If somebody has any idea, it would be very appreciated. Thank you by advance.

  11. Kaan says

    Great post. I love the newsletter + site!!

    One question about bulk redirects. What’s the best way through a plugin to handle when making a change in permalink structure that invalidates incoming URL requests on the old structure. I saw the wildcard option in #5 but I am not sure.

    For example:
    It used to be example.com/stories/post1, example.com/stories/post2, and so on.
    Now, it is changed to abc.com/blog/post1 where the only thing different is the middle section changing from “stories” to “blog”. The domain name and post name remains the same.

    I’d appreciate any feedback and/or link to a previous post where you might have discussed this in more detail.

    Thank you in advance!

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