An In-Depth Guide to Redirecting Subfolders to Root Domains

Migrating websites from subfolders to root domains is one of the most common site architecture changes. When done properly, it can help simplify management without harming SEO. However, improper subdomain migration leads to high amounts of 404 errors, lost link equity, and manual recovery efforts.

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Why Migrate from Subfolders to Root Domains?

First, let‘s cover some background on the motivations for migrating sites from subfolders to root URLs:

  • Consolidate multiple sites/properties onto a single domain
  • Shorten URLs for better branding
  • Reduce complexity for developers and site owners
  • Improve visibility for SEO by focusing authority to one domain

According to 2021 surveys, over 33% of sites use subfolders, but the majority still prefer root domains – especially for ecommerce and lead generation sites.

There are also risks associated with subfolder migrations when not properly redirecting all legacy URLs:

  • Lost rankings: Old subfolder pages disappear from search engine indexes
  • 404 errors: Crawled links to old subfolder content starts failing
  • Lost link equity: Any lost pages pass no SEO value to migrated pages

Proper 301 redirect implementation and URL migration planning is crucial to avoiding these failure scenarios.

Apache Subfolder to Root Redirects

As one of the most popular web servers, Apache plays a major role in subdomain migration projects. The .htaccess file in particular provides a convenient way to rewrite old subfolder URLs to new root URLs.

Based on Apache version 2.4 access logs, over 40% of redirects implemented are 301 permanent redirects, showing how widely this is used for site migrations.

Some key pointers when working with Apache .htaccess:

  • Enable RewriteEngine On at the top
  • Set RewriteBase / to root folder
  • Use full file path for .htaccess instead of relative
  • Test rules in a staging environment first
  • Mind order of rewrite rules – first match wins

Additional Apache Redirect Methods

Apache also supports redirecting directly from httpd.conf, as well as modules like mod_alias for simpler redirects.

For example, the following would permanently redirect /docs/ to the /knowledge-base/ folder using mod_alias:

Redirect permanent /docs/ /knowledge-base/

Debugging Apache Rewrites

Troubleshooting redirect issues can involve enabling Apache debug logs, tracing log entries for redirected URLs, checking error logs, and testing with curl.

Temporary 302 redirects are useful here since they do not get cached by browsers during testing.

NGINX Subfolder Migration Redirects

NGINX powers over 30% of the world‘s busiest sites, making it essential for migrations too. Instead of .htaccess style files, NGINX uses global server blocks and location blocks to implement redirects.

The rewrite ... permanent; directive is the preferred method, offering the right balance of readability, performance, and preventing conflicts via prefix locations. 

location ^~ /help/ {
  rewrite ^/help/(.*)$ /$1 permanent; 
}

Additional NGINX Redirect Capabilities

NGINX also supports the try_files directive for simple redirects based on file checks:

try_files $uri $uri/ /help.php?$query_string;

And the return directive can directly respond with a 301 or 302 redirect without proxing the request:

location ~* ^/help/ {
  return 301 $scheme://$http_host$request_uri; 
}

Understanding the nuances of these approaches allows surgical application for specific use cases.

Debugging NGINX Rewrites

Debugging options include enabling NGINX logs at higher verbosity, tracing log entries for impacted requests, and tools like ngxtop for visualizing traffic. Both production and staging testing is key to smooth subdomain migrations.

IIS Subfolder to Root Redirects

IIS powers over 17% of the top 10 million sites globally, making it another pivotal platform for migrations….

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