How to Monitor SEO Performance and Manage Website Redirects

10Web's SEO plugin helps you monitor your website's search performance, manage URL redirects, and identify broken links. You can connect Google Search Console to track clicks, impressions, and search rankings, while the Redirects section helps you manage changed or unavailable URLs.

This guide explains how to connect search engines, monitor SEO performance, create and manage redirects, and resolve not-found errors using AI prompts or WordPress Admin.

Step 1. Access the SEO plugin

To access SEO plugin in WordPress Admin, use either method:

• From the 10Web dashboard, click the W icon on your website thumbnail.
• From the 10Web Editor, click the W icon next to the Publish/Save button.

Then navigate to SEO in the WordPress sidebar.

For monitoring and redirect management, you will mainly use:

• Dashboard: Review overall SEO status and search performance.
• Content: Check the search performance and internal links of individual pages.
• Redirects: Create and manage redirect rules and review not-found URLs.
• Settings → Connections: Connect Google Search Console and verify your website with search engines.

Step 2. Connect Google Search Console

Google Search Console provides information about how your website performs in Google Search, including impressions, clicks, click-through rate, and average search position.

Connecting your Search Console property allows the SEO plugin to display this information directly in WordPress Admin.

Open the connection settings

1. Navigate to SEO → Settings → Connections.
2. Find the Google Search Console section.
3. Follow the instructions to configure your Google account connection.

Configure Google Search Console

1. Open Google Cloud Console.
2. Create a Google Cloud project or select an existing one.
3. Enable both the Google Search Console API and Site Verification API.
4. Open Google Auth Platform → Clients and create a client of type Web application.
5. Add the authorized redirect URI displayed in your SEO plugin's Connections screen. Copy it exactly.
6. Open Google Auth Platform → Data Access and add these three scopes:
   • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/userinfo.email
   • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/webmasters
   • https://www.googleapis.com/auth/siteverification
7. Under Google Auth Platform → Audience, add your Google account as a test user or publish the OAuth app.
8. Copy the generated client ID and client secret.
9. Return to SEO → Settings → Connections and enter:
   • Google OAuth client id
   • Google OAuth client secret
10. Save the credentials and click Connect.
11. Sign in to Google and approve the requested permissions.

Once connected, the plugin can display search performance information for your website and individual pages. If a Search Console property does not exist yet, the plugin can create and verify one during the connection process.

Step 3. Verify your website with search engines

Site verification confirms that you own or manage a website. The SEO plugin supports verification with Google, Bing, Pinterest, and Yandex.

If you have connected Google Search Console, Google verification is handled through that connection. You can use the manual verification fields for other services or when you need to verify Google separately.

Get verification codes for Google, Bing, Yandex, and Pinterest

Google Search Console

1. Visit Google Search Console and sign in.
2. Click Add property and select URL prefix.
3. Enter your website URL and click Continue.
4. Under Other verification methods, select HTML tag.
5. Copy the verification tag and paste it into SEO → Settings → Connections → Google.
6. Click Save Changes, then return to Google Search Console and click Verify.

Bing Webmaster Tools

1. Visit Bing Webmaster Tools and sign in.
2. Add your website URL.
3. Select the HTML Meta Tag verification method.
4. Copy the verification tag and paste it into SEO → Settings → Connections → Bing.
5. Click Save Changes, then return to Bing and click Verify.

Yandex Webmaster

1. Visit Yandex Webmaster and sign in.
2. Add your website URL.
3. Select the Meta tag verification method.
4. Copy the verification tag and paste it into SEO → Settings → Connections → Yandex.
5. Click Save Changes, then return to Yandex and click Verify to confirm ownership.

Pinterest

1. Sign in to your Pinterest business account.
2. Open Settings → Link to Pinterest and click Claim next to Websites.
3. Under Add HTML tag, copy the provided verification tag and click Continue.
4. Paste the tag into SEO → Settings → Connections → Pinterest and click Save Changes.
5. Return to Pinterest, enter your website URL, and click Verify.

Step 4. Monitor your website's search performance

Once Google Search Console is connected, the SEO plugin helps you understand how people discover your website through Google Search.

You can monitor performance for the entire website or review results for individual pages.

Review search performance from the Dashboard

1. Navigate to WordPress Admin → SEO → Dashboard.
2. Find the search performance section.
3. Review the available metrics:
   • Impressions: How often your website appeared in Google Search results.
   • Clicks: How many times people clicked your website from search results.
   • Click-through rate (CTR): The percentage of impressions that resulted in clicks.
   • Average position: Your website's average position in Google Search results.
4. Select the available date range to review performance over a specific period.
5. Compare the results with the previous period to identify changes.
6. Review top search queries and pages whose positions have improved or declined.

Analyze search performance using AI

You can also ask AI to review your website's SEO performance, for example:

Analyze my website's Google Search Console performance for the last 30 days. Compare clicks, impressions, CTR, and average position with the previous period. Identify pages that lost traffic and suggest SEO improvements.

For search queries:

Review my top search queries and identify pages with high impressions but low click-through rates. Suggest improvements to their SEO titles and descriptions.

Search performance information is available after connecting Google Search Console.

Review performance for individual pages

To identify which pages perform best in search results:

1. Navigate to SEO → Content.
2. Find the page you want to review.
3. Review the available impressions, clicks, and average position information when Search Console is connected.
4. Open the page's SEO details to review its performance alongside its optimization settings.

You can also open a page for editing in two ways:

• From WordPress Admin → Pages → All Pages, find the page and click Edit.
• From SEO → Content, find the page, hover over its title, and click Edit.

Scroll to the SEO panel to review the available page-level SEO information.

Step 5. Create and manage URL redirects

Redirects automatically send visitors and search engines from an old URL to another destination. They help preserve access to your content when a page is renamed, moved, or replaced.

The SEO plugin supports permanent and temporary redirects, pattern-based rules, and HTTP status responses.

Create a redirect using AI

For example:

Redirect my old Services page at /old-services/ to /services/ using a permanent 301 redirect. Make sure visitors using the old URL reach the new page.

For multiple pages:

Review my website's outdated URLs and create permanent redirects to their relevant replacement pages. Avoid redirect loops and chains.

Create a redirect manually

1. Navigate to WordPress Admin → SEO → Redirects.
2. Click Add rule.
3. Under Match, select Exact URL for a specific address or Pattern (regular expression) for multiple URLs following the same pattern.
4. Enter the old URL path in Source, for example /old-services/.
5. Enter the destination in Target, for example /services/. You can also use a complete external URL.
6. Optionally add a description under Notes.
7. In the Save panel, select the redirect type:
   • 301 permanent: For a page that has permanently moved.
   • 302 temporary: For a temporary move when the original URL will be used again.
8. Keep Enabled selected to activate the rule.
9. Configure the available options and click Save rule.

Once the rule is active, requests to the source URL are redirected to the specified target.

Configure additional redirect options

When creating a rule, the Save panel provides additional controls:

• Enabled: Activate or deactivate the rule without deleting it.
• Carry the query string to the target: Preserve URL parameters for internal redirects.
• Order: Set the priority of pattern-based rules. Lower values are evaluated first.
• If the target itself redirects, point straight at the final destination: Avoid unnecessary redirect chains.
• Save anyway: Override warnings about redirect loops, chains, conflicts, or missing destinations.

Step 6. Create pattern-based redirects and status responses

Pattern-based redirects let you manage several related URLs with one rule. Status responses let you specify what happens when content no longer exists without redirecting visitors elsewhere.

Create a pattern-based redirect

You can use pattern rules when multiple URLs follow the same structure, such as moving content from one URL section to another.

1. Navigate to SEO → Redirects → Add rule.
2. Under Match, select Pattern (regular expression).
3. Enter the matching expression in Source.
4. Enter the destination pattern in Target.
5. Scroll to Test a pattern against sample URLs.
6. Enter the pattern, target, and sample URLs to test.
7. Click Test to review the resulting destinations.
8. Configure the redirect type, order, and other options.
9. Click Save rule.

Pattern matching supports captured values that can be reused in the destination using references such as $1 and $2.

Manage HTTP status responses

When content should no longer be accessible and there is no suitable replacement page, you can configure a status response instead of a redirect.

The plugin supports:

• 404 Not Found: The requested page does not exist.
• 410 Gone: The content has been permanently removed.
• 451 Unavailable for Legal Reasons: The content is unavailable due to legal restrictions.

To create one:

1. Navigate to SEO → Redirects.
2. Click Add rule.
3. Enter the URL path in Source.
4. Select the appropriate HTTP status response under Type.
5. Leave the target empty, since status responses do not redirect to another URL.
6. Click Save rule.

You can review these rules using the Status responses filter on the Redirects screen.

Step 7. Manage existing redirects and automatic redirects

The SEO plugin automatically creates a 301 redirect when you change the slug of a published page or other supported content.

You can also review, edit, enable, disable, or remove redirect rules manually.

### Manage redirect rules

1. Navigate to SEO → Redirects.
2. Open the Rules tab.
3. Use the available filters:
   • All: All redirect and status rules.
   • Redirects: Rules that send visitors to another URL.
   • Status responses: Rules that return a status code without a destination.
   • Automatic: Redirects created automatically after URL changes.
   • Disabled: Rules that are not currently active.
4. Review the rule's source, target, type, status, order, hits, and date added.
5. Open the relevant rule to edit or manage it.

The plugin can also use internal link information and connected Search Console performance data to help you evaluate existing redirects.

Fix redirect chains

A redirect chain occurs when one redirected URL points to another redirected URL instead of directly to its final destination.

To simplify existing chains:

1. Go to SEO → Redirects.
2. Scroll to Import and export → Maintenance.
3. Click Collapse chains.

The plugin updates applicable redirect rules so they point directly to the final destination.

Step 8. Find and fix not-found URLs

The not-found log helps you identify URLs visitors requested that do not exist on your website.

This is useful for finding broken URLs, outdated links, or pages that were deleted without a replacement.

Review not-found URLs manually

1. Navigate to SEO → Redirects.
2. Open the Not found tab.
3. Review the recorded URLs, including their request counts, most recent requests, and referring sources when available.
4. Identify URLs that should point to an existing page.
5. Use the redirect creation action for the relevant URL.
6. Enter a suitable destination and save the redirect.

You can also ask AI:

Review the not-found URLs on my website. Identify broken links that should redirect to existing pages and suggest suitable destinations. Use permanent redirects for content that has moved.

Configure not-found logging

1. Go to SEO → Settings → Advanced.
2. Scroll to Editor and logging.
3. Enable or disable Log not-found URLs.
4. Under Keep not-found entries for (days), enter how long the records should be kept.
5. Click Save Changes.

Old entries are automatically removed after the configured retention period.

Step 9. Import and export redirect rules

If you manage many redirects or want to transfer rules between websites, you can import and export them using CSV files.

Export redirects

1. Navigate to SEO → Redirects.
2. Scroll to Import and export → Export.
3. Click Download CSV.

The downloaded file contains your redirect rules and their configuration, including source, target, status code, matching type, enabled state, order, and other available settings.

Import redirects

1. Navigate to SEO → Redirects.
2. Scroll to Import and export → Import.
3. Click Choose File to upload a CSV file, or paste CSV content into the provided field.
4. Click Preview import.
5. Review which rules will be added, changed, or skipped and check for conflicts.
6. Confirm the import if the preview is correct.

The import requires a source column. Other supported columns can specify the target URL, response code, matching type, enabled state, and additional configuration.

Step 10. Review your SEO performance and redirects

After connecting Google Search Console and configuring your redirects, you can continue monitoring your website's SEO performance from WordPress Admin.

1. Open SEO → Dashboard to review search performance and overall SEO status.
2. Open SEO → Content to identify pages that may need optimization or additional internal links.
3. Open SEO → Redirects → Rules to review active and automatic redirects.
4. Open SEO → Redirects → Not found to check for newly requested missing URLs.
5. Review redirect chains and outdated rules periodically.

Regular monitoring helps you identify declining search performance, maintain working URLs, and improve how visitors and search engines access your website.

What's next?

Continue improving your website's SEO with these guides:

• How to Set Up and Manage SEO on Your Website With 10Web: Configure site-wide SEO settings, indexing, sitemaps, structured data, and social sharing.
• How to Optimize Your Website Content and Fix SEO Issues: Improve page content, SEO titles, descriptions, headings, readability, and images, and resolve issues found in Site Health.