Before you start
- Administrator access and a backup before changing site URL or redirect plugins.
Pick a single hostname and scheme
Decide https + www or https + bare domain; align WordPress Address and Site Address.
Add a single-hop 301 from the alternate host at the edge (Nginx/Apache) — avoid chains through multiple plugins.
Trailing slashes: be consistent
Mixed trailing slash rules create soft duplicates. Match your permalink structure and server rules.
Test with curl -I or DevTools Network to confirm one 301 to the canonical pattern.
Tag and archive pages: index or noindex deliberately
Thin tag clouds often add low-value URLs — SEO plugins can noindex them while keeping crawl paths for humans.
Author archives on single-author blogs are frequently noindexed to reduce duplication with the homepage.
Parameters, session IDs, and UTM links
Marketing parameters should not create indexable duplicates — canonical to the clean URL or strip parameters at the edge when safe.
Never index internal search result URLs; block or noindex depending on your stack.
Use Search Console URL parameters tool thoughtfully
Modern sites often rely on canonicals instead of aggressive parameter handling — prefer fixing the source template.
When in doubt, ask whether the parameterized URL adds unique value; if not, consolidate.