Standard scope
This standard applies to:
- pennmedicine.org
- All Penn Medicine websites
- Penn Medicine mobile applications
Overview
Implementing redirects for former site URLs directly impacts the following website success factors:
- Preserving search engine rankings associated with legacy URL page content
- Preventing broken or dead links
- Ensuring a consistent user experience when a page is removed, moved or renamed
Types of former site URL redirects
Former site URL redirects may be implemented in different ways depending on the number of pages being redirected and their relationship to each other.
One-to-one redirect
Use a one-to-one redirect when we traffic from a single origination URL should redirect to a different single destination URL.
For example, if the name of a page is changed from “for providers” to “provider resources”, the URL will also change. Requesting a one-to-one redirect will result in the following:
- https://www.pennmedicine.org/for-providers
redirects to ↓
https://www.pennmedicine.org/provider-resources
Wildcard redirect (many-to-one)
Use a wildcard redirect when there is a need to direct traffic from several pages with the same parent path in the URL to a single page. A wildcard redirect, indicated by the use of an asterisk "*" in the origin URL, allows you to set up one redirect for all pages with a matching URL path to redirect to a single destination URL.
For example, if the content of a parent page and its 3 child pages are combined into a single page, the wildcard redirect can be used to send traffic from any of the old child pages to the parent page. Only one redirect is needed when you use the wildcard, instead of a unique redirect for each page.
Requesting a wildcard redirect using www.pennmedicine.org/cardiology/* as the origin and www.pennmedicine.org/cardiology as the destination will result in the following:
- https://www.pennmedicine.org/cardiology/treatments
redirects to ↓
https://www.pennmedicine.org/cardiology - https://www.pennmedicine.org/cardiology/conditions
redirects to ↓
https://www.pennmedicine.org/cardiology - https://www.pennmedicine.org/cardiology/team
redirects to ↓
https://www.pennmedicine.org/cardiology
Note that use of the wildcard redirect in this example requires that all child pages of the parent page are redirected. If one or more child pages are retained, you will need to implement a one-to-one redirect.
Wildcard redirect (many-to-many)
You can also use a wildcard redirect with an asterisk "*" when you want to move all pages within a domain or path of a domain. The wildcard can be used to forward any traffic from a URL that contains a specific string, or pattern to a URL where that string or pattern is replaced.
For example, if a group of pages with a path of “for providers” are renamed with a path of “provider resources”, a wildcard redirect could be used to automatically redirect all pages with the same path.
Requesting a wildcard redirect using www.pennmedicine.org/for-providers/* as the origin and www.pennmedicine.org/provider-resources/* as the destination will result in the following:
- https://www.pennmedicine.org/for-providers/a
redirects to ↓
https://www.pennmedicine.org/provider-resources/a - https://www.pennmedicine.org/for-providers/b
redirects to ↓
https://www.pennmedicine.org/provider-resources/b - https://www.pennmedicine.org/for-providers/c
redirects to ↓
https://www.pennmedicine.org/provider-resources/c
Expiration of redirects
Unless traffic coming from an FSU redirect to an active page is significant, the lifetime of an FSU redirect is limited to one year. Redirect requestors will be notified prior to expiration.
Guidelines
Do
- Request redirects using the domain and path of the origin and destination URLs
- Use an asterick “*” as a wild card to capture traffic from pages with the same domain and domain/path to redirect to a new domain or domain/path
- Redirect to URLs, domains and domain/paths owned by Penn Medicine
- Expire redirects when the traffic to the origin URL is insignificant
Don't
- Redirect to URLs, domains or domain/paths that are not within the ownership of Penn Medicine
- Allow legacy redirects to stay active unless there continues to be traffic to the origin URL
Related resources
To request a former site URL redirect, submit a web request for a Redirect and then select Former Site URL as the type of redirect.
Contact
For questions, please contact web-standards@pennmedicine.upenn.edu