How to Redirect a Tistory Blog (Driving Traffic to WordPress)

Currently, I’m in the process of transferring a few remaining posts from my previously used Tistory blog to WordPress. Since I often refer back to the Tistory blog redirection code when working on SEO, I’m documenting it here through this post.

How to Redirect a Tistory Blog

After transferring posts from your Tistory blog to WordPress, open the HTML editor in the Tistory post.

• Caution! This method can only be used once—if it fails, that’s it. Since the redirection is done using a meta tag, it cannot be modified afterward. Please be careful.

<META HTTP-EQUIV="Refresh" CONTENT="0;URL=https://your-target-url.com">

In the editor screen opened in HTML mode, paste the above code anywhere on the screen and hit Done. With this code set up, visitors (traffic) to your Stories blog post will automatically be redirected to your desired address.

Pros and Cons of This Method

Redirection using an HTML meta tag is quick and easy to implement, but it typically performs a temporary redirection. To carry out a permanent redirection (status code 301, “Permanently Moved”), you need to configure it through the server. In other words, a permanent redirection (301 redirect) generally cannot be directly achieved using meta tags or JavaScript.

In the case of Tistory blogs, users cannot directly modify server settings, so redirection must be implemented using server-provided configuration options or features. But expecting Tistory to provide such options is wishful thinking. You’re lucky if they don’t intervene.

Therefore, there are two alternative methods:

1. In-page notice: Display a notice or provide a link in the page informing users of the new location.
2. JavaScript redirection: Use JavaScript instead of an HTML meta tag to perform the redirection. This method is also treated as a temporary redirection.

For example, JavaScript-based redirection can be implemented as follows.

<script type="text/javascript">
    window.location.href = "https://your-target-url.com";
</script>

All of the methods mentioned above are handled on the user’s browser, so in terms of search engine optimization (SEO), they may not be as effective as a server-side 301 redirect. If possible, it’s best to implement a permanent redirect via server settings with the help of your web hosting service. However, in the case of a Tistory blog, the methods discussed above seem to be the best available options.

Additional Work on Google Search Console

You can register the new WordPress post with Google Search Console. By doing so, the WordPress post will replace the original Tistory post in Google search results.

One thing to keep in mind is that the newly transferred post will not perfectly inherit the ranking of the original Tistory post. That’s because Tistory generally has a higher domain authority, while a newly created WordPress site does not. (You cannot carry over domain authority or page authority.)

However, since you can redirect the traffic that previously went to the Tistory post to the new WordPress blog, it often ranks faster than expected and tends to inherit the traffic fairly well.

Timing for Shutting Down Your Tistory Blog

If you’re thinking of shutting down your Tistory blog right after migrating it, stop! Just because you’ve removed it from Google indexing doesn’t mean the Tistory post will no longer appear in search results. It’s better to keep monitoring whether traffic is still coming to your site (typically for about 6 months), and only consider shutting down the Tistory blog once the traffic has completely died down. (Or better yet, continue running it as a short-tail blog.)