How to use wildcard redirects in Webflow: Step-by-step guide + Examples

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How to use wildcard redirects in Webflow: Step-by-step guide + Examples

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When managing a growing website, URL structures often need to evolve – old paths become outdated, new organizational patterns emerge, and content hierarchies shift. Instead of creating individual redirects for each changed URL, Webflow's wildcard redirects provide a powerful pattern-matching system that can handle entire sections of your site with single, maintainable rules. This approach not only saves time but also ensures consistent URL handling while preserving your site's SEO equity.

Accessing wildcard redirects is straightforward – they live alongside regular redirects in your Site Settings > Publishing section. But unlike their simpler cousins that handle single URL changes, wildcards pack the power to transform entire sections of your site with just a few carefully crafted rules.

What are Webflow wildcard redirects (and why should you care)?

Wildcard redirects are like smart forwarding rules for your website's URLs. Instead of creating individual redirects for hundreds of pages, you can set up a single rule that handles multiple URLs following a similar pattern.

For example, instead of creating separate redirects for:

/old-blog/post-1
/old-blog/post-2
/old-blog/post-3 ...and so on for hundreds of posts, you can create one wildcard redirect that handles them all.

In this case, a single wildcard redirect from /old-blog/(.*) to /blog/%1 would systematically handle all these URLs. The (.*) captures whatever comes after "old-blog/" (like "post-1", "post-2", etc.), and %1 places that same text in the new URL structure. One rule, and your entire blog migration is handled – clean, efficient, and SEO-friendly.

Why redirects are (very) important for your Webflow website

Preserve your website's SEO value with proper redirects: When you change URLs without proper redirects, you're essentially throwing away all the SEO juice you've built up over time. Search engines have already indexed your old URLs, and other websites might be linking to them. Wildcard redirects help maintain this valuable SEO equity by properly forwarding both users and search engines to your new URLs.
Save development time with smart redirect patterns: Nobody wants to spend hours creating hundreds of individual redirects. Wildcard redirects let you handle multiple URL changes with just a few rules. It's like having a smart assistant that knows exactly where to send your visitors, no matter which old URL they're trying to access.
Maintain a fast Webflow site performance with efficient redirects: While Webflow allows up to 1,000 redirects, each redirect rule adds to your site's manifest file, which browsers need to download. Using wildcards helps keep this file lean and your site speedy. It's like having a well-organized filing system instead of thousands of loose papers.

How Webflow wildcard redirects work: A detailed breakdown

Webflow's wildcard redirect system uses a simplified pattern matching approach that's powerful yet easy to use. Let's break down exactly how it works:

Understanding the basic components

Capture Groups ((.*))

These are your wildcards that catch any text in a URL
Each (.*) acts like a variable container
You can use multiple capture groups in a single rule
They match any characters until the next forward slash or end of URL

Reference Numbers (%1, %2, etc.)

These tell Webflow where to place your captured text
%1 refers to the first capture group
%2 refers to the second capture group
You can use multiple reference numbers in your new URL structure

Special characters in Webflow redirects

Webflow requires you to escape certain special characters with %:

Webflow requires you to escape certain special characters with %:
• Question marks: ? becomes %?
• Ampersands: & becomes %&
• Equals signs: = becomes %=
• Plus signs: + becomes %+
• Asterisks: * becomes %

How pattern matching works

When someone visits your site, Webflow:

Checks if the requested URL matches any redirect patterns
Captures any text that matches your (.*) groups
Places that text into your new URL structure using %1, %2, etc.
Sends the visitor to the new URL with a 301 (permanent) redirect status

For example, with this rule:

Old path: /old-blog/(.*)
Redirect to: /blog/%1

When someone visits /old-blog/summer-tips:

The (.*) captures "summer-tips"
Webflow places that text where %1 appears
The visitor is redirected to /blog/summer-tips

8 practical Webflow wildcard redirect examples

Let's explore 8 of the most practical wildcard redirect patterns you'll likely need in Webflow. From simple blog migrations to complex query parameter transformations, these patterns solve real-world URL restructuring challenges with simple, yet scalable solutions that you can implement right away.

1. Blog migration pattern

When you're migrating your blog to a new structure or consolidating content, you often need to maintain the same post URLs while changing the parent folder. This is especially common when moving from platforms like WordPress or Medium to Webflow, or when rebranding your blog section. Instead of creating hundreds of individual redirects for each blog post, you can use a single wildcard pattern:

Old path: /old-blog/(.*)
Redirect to: /blog/%1