Set Up 301 Redirects

A 301 redirect permanently sends visitors and search engines from an old URL to a new one. If you're migrating an existing job board to Cavuno, redirects keep old links and bookmarks useful and help search engines understand the new URL structure. Without a matching redirect, requests to an old path return a 404. Redirects do not guarantee that search rankings remain unchanged during a migration.

When to use redirects

Redirects are most important during platform migrations where your old job board used different URL patterns (for example, /careers/engineer instead of /jobs/senior-engineer). They're also useful after URL restructuring or when other websites link to paths on your domain that have changed.

Before you begin

Export or list the old URLs you need to preserve, map each one to a live destination, and remove query strings and domain names from source paths. Keep access to the old site's analytics or crawl export so you can prioritize URLs that still receive visits or backlinks.

Add a redirect

1. Go to Settings → Redirects
2. Click Add redirect
3. Enter the Source path (the old URL path, starting with /)
4. Enter the Destination (the new URL path or a full external URL)
5. Click Add redirect

The redirect takes effect immediately. You can use the source path hint (.*) for wildcard patterns, and the destination hint %1, %2 for capture group replacements.

Redirect types

Exact redirects

An exact redirect matches a single path. For example, source /careers/engineer redirecting to destination /jobs/senior-engineer-at-acme. The table shows these as "Static" type.

Wildcard redirects

Wildcard redirects use regex capture groups to match patterns. Use (.*) to capture any text, then reference it with %1, %2, etc. in the destination.

For example, source /blog/(.*) with destination /articles/%1 redirects /blog/my-post to /articles/my-post. For multiple capture groups, source /archive/(.*)/(.*) with destination /content/%1/%2 redirects /archive/2024/my-post to /content/2024/my-post.

Bulk import with CSV

For large migrations, upload a CSV file instead of adding redirects one at a time. The CSV needs two columns: old_path and new_path. Maximum 1,000 redirects per import.

1234
old_path,new_path
/old-page,/new-page
/blog/(.*),/articles/%1
/about,https://example.com/about

1. Click the three-dot menu next to the Add redirect button
2. Click Import CSV
3. Upload your CSV file
4. Review the preview and click Import

You can also export your existing redirects as CSV using Export CSV from the same menu.

Verify a redirect

Open the source URL on your public domain in a private browsing window. The address bar should change to the exact destination you configured, and the destination page should load without first showing Cavuno's 404 page. For a wildcard rule, test more than one source value and confirm each %1 or %2 capture appears in the correct place. Also open an existing Cavuno route such as /jobs to confirm the rule does not intercept reserved paths.

Reserved paths

You cannot create redirects for paths already used by Cavuno, including /jobs, /companies, /blog, /post, /password, /auth, /home, /admin, /api, /boards, /_next, /images, /assets, /locales, /sitemap.xml, /robots.txt, /favicon.ico, and /rss.xml. This prevents accidentally overriding working pages.

Troubleshooting

If a source URL still shows a 404, confirm that the source starts with /, does not include the domain, and is not a reserved Cavuno path. If a wildcard sends visitors to the wrong destination, test each capture group separately and confirm %1, %2, and later replacements appear in the same order as their (.*) groups. Remove redirect chains by pointing the original source directly to the final live page.

How redirects work

Redirects only apply to paths that don't match any existing Cavuno route. When a visitor lands on an unrecognized path, Cavuno checks your redirect rules. Exact matches are checked first, then wildcard rules in priority order. If a match is found, the visitor is permanently redirected (HTTP 301/308). If no match is found, a 404 page is shown.

Setting up redirects during migration keeps old URLs useful and gives search engines a clear permanent-move signal. Search engines still decide when to crawl the destination and how to rank it. For more on migration SEO, see Technical SEO.