Site Redirect

Are you leaving WordPress.com? With the Site Redirect upgrade, you can redirect your .wordpress.com site address (and all your permalinks) to your new domain name.

In this guide

1. When to Use a Site Redirect
2. Create a Site Redirect
3. Disable a Redirect
4. Delete a Redirect

When to Use a Site Redirect

Use a site redirect to send traffic from a WordPress.com site address to a new domain.

If you wish to redirect a domain you own to WordPress.com, connect or transfer the domain to WordPress.com instead.

If you wish to redirect a domain in your WordPress.com account to another site on WordPress.com, move the domain. If you wish to redirect a domain in your WordPress.com account to another site elsewhere, change the name servers or DNS records.

Create a Site Redirect

The site redirect screen

To set up a site redirect, follow these steps:

1. Open the site redirect screen here.
2. Enter the new domain or URL address where you want your WordPress.com traffic to be redirected.
3. Click the Go button.
4. Confirm your purchase and complete the checkout process.
5. Select the Site Redirect as the primary address by going to Upgrades → Domains, clicking the … next to the domain, and selecting make primary site address.

Site redirects can only point to a non-SSL (http://) URL. If you have SSL set up on the site you’re redirecting to, the http-to-https redirect will be handled on that site’s end.

For the site redirect to work correctly on pages besides the homepage, the permalinks on the new site (the one you’re redirecting to) should match those at WordPress.com. WordPress.com uses the following post permalink structure: http://example.com/2014/10/21/sample-post/. Visitors may see an error message if the new site does not use the same structure.

Site redirects can be used with domain names or directory paths but not individual files or pages. For example:

OK: https://yourdomain.com/support
Not OK: https://yourdomain.com/support.html

Disable a Redirect

If you want to turn off the redirect for a while but don’t want to delete it, make your default WordPress.com address your site’s primary address instead of the redirect. You can switch your site’s primary domain by going to Upgrades → Domains, clicking the … next to a domain, and selecting make primary domain.

You can turn on the redirect anytime by returning to this screen and setting the site redirect URL as the primary address again.

Delete a Redirect

To delete a redirect:

1. Visit your site’s dashboard.
2. Navigate to Upgrades → Domains.
3. Click on the site redirect.
4. Select the Delete option.

You can also remove the site redirect from the Purchases screen.