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Wordpress Yoast Redirecting Image URLs To Posts

If you have images on your WordPress website, which you should and they are indexed in Google, which they should be, make sure you are redirecting the Image URLs to Posts and Pages.  By performing image redirects, it should help boost both CTR (Click Thru Rate) and bounce rate of your website and is usually best practices for Image SEO (Search Engine Optimization).

By default WordPress stores images and other attachments as documents.  When a user clicks on an image from a Google Image Search, they often will be directed to the image document and not the article the image was attached to.  Obviously you want people to read your articles and images are a great way to get them there.

If you haven’t purchased Yoast Premium it’s a great time to do it.  Yoast makes the process of redirecting image URLs really easy.

How To Redirect Image URLs To Posts

  • Step 1: Log Into WordPress
  • Step 2: Select Yoast SEO Advanced Options
  • Step 3: Click On the Permalinks Tab
  • Step 4: In the Change URLs Section Choose “Redirect” for the Redirect attachment URLs to parent post URL
  • Step5: Click the Save Changes Button

WordPress Yoast Redirecting Image URLs To Posts And Pages

An easy way to discover if this is an issue for your website, is to look at the URL traffic in Google Analytics.  If you see URLs that are longer than the root URL for an article, you probably have an issue and should consider redirecting image URLs to their originating posts.

Wordpress Yoast Redirecting Image URLs To Posts And Pages

In the example above you can see multiple URLs for the original post (https://GearMashers.com/oakley-aro-cycling-helmet-review-2017).

In WordPress attachments to posts, such as images, documents and so on are stored in the WordPress database as posts, this means they’re accessible under their own URLs.  If you do not redirect them, people who click on the attachments will be presented with a page just showing the attachment rather than the post or page the attachment was linked to.

Yoast Advanced Permalinks Redirect URLs

Luckly Yoast has a section to Redirect attachment URLs to the parent post URL.  It’s as simple as clicking a button.

Yoast Advanced Permalinks Redirect URLs

In the image above simply click the Purple Redirect button to Redirect attachment URLs to parent post URL.