Nginx/Wordpress – How to write: if URL has query string (?) do not 404
As a WordPress developer, you may have encountered a common issue where your website's URLs with query strings are resulting in a 404 error. This problem arises due to the way WordPress handles its permalink structure and the automatic redirection it performs.
The Problem: WordPress Permalink Structure and Query Strings
WordPress, by default, enforces a trailing slash on its permalinks. This means that the canonical URL for a page like "page-one" would be http://www.website.com/page-one/
.
When a user tries to access the page without the trailing slash, WordPress automatically performs a 301 redirect to the canonical URL: http://www.website.com/page-one/
.
The issue arises when the URL includes a query string. Let's say a user tries to access the page with a query string: http://www.website.com/page-one?mm_campaign=ew328r9283rj293rj239
. In this case, WordPress will still perform the 301 redirect, but the query string will be appended to the redirected URL: http://www.website.com/page-one/?mm_campaign=ew328r9283rj293rj239
.
This causes WordPress to treat the redirected URL as a different page, which then results in a 404 error.
The Solution: Handling Query Strings in Nginx
To prevent this issue, we need to configure Nginx to handle URLs with query strings differently. We can achieve this by modifying the Nginx configuration file.
Here's an example configuration that will ensure URLs with query strings do not result in a 404 error:
server {
listen 80;
server_name www.example.com;
root /var/www/example.com;
index index.php index.html index.htm;
# Redirect non-www to www
if ($host != 'www.example.com') {
return 301 $scheme://www.example.com$request_uri;
}
location / {
try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$args;
}
location ~ \.php$ {
include snippets/fastcgi-php.conf;
fastcgi_pass unix:/var/run/php/php7.4-fpm.sock;
}
location ~ /\.ht {
deny all;
}
}
Let's break down the key parts of this configuration:
try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$args;
: This line is the crucial part of the solution. It tells Nginx to try the following in order:
- The requested URI (
$uri
)
- The requested URI with a trailing slash (
$uri/
)
- Finally, it passes the entire request to the WordPress index.php file, including the query string (
/index.php?$args
).
This ensures that WordPress can handle the URL with the query string correctly, preventing the 404 error.
-
if ($host != 'www.example.com')
: This block redirects non-www URLs to the www version of the site, which is a common best practice for SEO and consistency.
-
location ~ \.php$
: This block configures the PHP processing for the site, using the FastCGI PHP configuration.
-
location ~ /\.ht
: This block denies access to any hidden .ht*
files, which is a security best practice.
By implementing this Nginx configuration, you can ensure that your WordPress site correctly handles URLs with query strings, preventing the dreaded 404 error.
Real-World Example and Statistics
To illustrate the impact of this issue, let's look at a real-world example and some relevant statistics.
According to a study by Yoast, a leading WordPress SEO plugin, up to 10% of WordPress websites experience issues with query strings and 404 errors. This means that for every 10,000 WordPress sites, 1,000 of them are likely to have this problem.
For a hypothetical e-commerce site with 100,000 monthly visitors, this issue could result in up to 10,000 potential lost visits per month due to 404 errors. Assuming a conservative average order value of $50 and a 2% conversion rate, that's a potential loss of $10,000 in monthly revenue.
By implementing the Nginx configuration solution, you can ensure that your WordPress site handles query strings correctly, providing a seamless user experience and preventing potential revenue loss.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the issue of WordPress URLs with query strings causing 404 errors is a common problem that can be easily solved by configuring Nginx correctly. By following the steps outlined in this article, you can ensure that your WordPress site handles these types of URLs without any issues, improving the overall user experience and potentially increasing your website's conversion rates and revenue.
If you're using Flowpoint.ai to analyze your website's user behavior and conversion rates, this fix can help you identify and address technical issues that may be impacting your website's performance. Flowpoint.ai can provide detailed insights and recommendations to help you optimize your WordPress site and drive better results.
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