Technical SEO
htaccess redirects, HTTPS, and caching without breaking SEO
Use Apache .htaccess for HTTPS, www canonicalization, 301 redirects, Gzip, and cache headers — without creating a redirect loop.
One clean URL per page
Users and crawlers should hit HTTPS and one hostname. Force HTTPS first, then www or non-www — never both directions. Chain those poorly and you get a loop or hop tax.
Permanent moves use 301. Temporary tests use 302. Do not 302 a redesign you intend to keep.
Performance rules are SEO-adjacent
Gzip and long cache headers for images, CSS, and JS improve Lighthouse and real load times. Do not cache HTML aggressively if you ship frequent content updates.
Deploy safely
The .htaccess Generator outputs Apache/LiteSpeed rules. Download the file, backup the live version, upload to the document root, and test homepage plus one old URL. Nginx and IIS need different config.
Frequently asked questions
Will this work on Nginx?
No. Translate the same ideas into nginx.conf or use a host panel that writes Nginx rules.
Can I redirect a whole folder?
Yes. Add a 301 from /old-path to the new location and test a few deep URLs.
Does hotlink protection affect SEO?
It can block image crawlers if you are not careful. Allow your own host and known search bots if you enable it.