Skip to content
    Moz logo Menu open Menu close
    • Products
      • Moz Pro
      • Moz Pro Home
      • Moz Local
      • Moz Local Home
      • STAT
      • Moz API
      • Moz API Home
      • Compare SEO Products
      • Moz Data
    • Free SEO Tools
      • Domain Analysis
      • Keyword Explorer
      • Link Explorer
      • Competitive Research
      • MozBar
      • More Free SEO Tools
    • Learn SEO
      • Beginner's Guide to SEO
      • SEO Learning Center
      • Moz Academy
      • MozCon
      • Webinars, Whitepapers, & Guides
    • Blog
    • Why Moz
      • Digital Marketers
      • Agency Solutions
      • Enterprise Solutions
      • Small Business Solutions
      • The Moz Story
      • New Releases
    • Log in
    • Log out
    • Products
      • Moz Pro

        Your all-in-one suite of SEO essentials.

      • Moz Local

        Raise your local SEO visibility with complete local SEO management.

      • STAT

        SERP tracking and analytics for enterprise SEO experts.

      • Moz API

        Power your SEO with our index of over 44 trillion links.

      • Compare SEO Products

        See which Moz SEO solution best meets your business needs.

      • Moz Data

        Power your SEO strategy & AI models with custom data solutions.

      Let your business shine with Listings AI
      Moz Local

      Let your business shine with Listings AI

      Learn more
    • Free SEO Tools
      • Domain Analysis

        Get top competitive SEO metrics like DA, top pages and more.

      • Keyword Explorer

        Find traffic-driving keywords with our 1.25 billion+ keyword index.

      • Link Explorer

        Explore over 40 trillion links for powerful backlink data.

      • Competitive Research

        Uncover valuable insights on your organic search competitors.

      • MozBar

        See top SEO metrics for free as you browse the web.

      • More Free SEO Tools

        Explore all the free SEO tools Moz has to offer.

      NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic
      Moz Pro

      NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic

      Learn more
    • Learn SEO
      • Beginner's Guide to SEO

        The #1 most popular introduction to SEO, trusted by millions.

      • SEO Learning Center

        Broaden your knowledge with SEO resources for all skill levels.

      • On-Demand Webinars

        Learn modern SEO best practices from industry experts.

      • How-To Guides

        Step-by-step guides to search success from the authority on SEO.

      • Moz Academy

        Upskill and get certified with on-demand courses & certifications.

      • MozCon

        Save on Early Bird tickets and join us in London or New York City

      Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints
      Moz API

      Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints

      Find your plan
    • Blog
    • Why Moz
      • Digital Marketers

        Simplify SEO tasks to save time and grow your traffic.

      • Small Business Solutions

        Uncover insights to make smarter marketing decisions in less time.

      • Agency Solutions

        Earn & keep valuable clients with unparalleled data & insights.

      • Enterprise Solutions

        Gain a competitive edge in the ever-changing world of search.

      • The Moz Story

        Moz was the first & remains the most trusted SEO company.

      • New Releases

        Get the scoop on the latest and greatest from Moz.

      Surface actionable competitive intel
      New Feature

      Surface actionable competitive intel

      Learn More
    • Log in
      • Moz Pro
      • Moz Local
      • Moz Local Dashboard
      • Moz API
      • Moz API Dashboard
      • Moz Academy
    • Avatar
      • Moz Home
      • Notifications
      • Account & Billing
      • Manage Users
      • Community Profile
      • My Q&A
      • My Videos
      • Log Out

    The Moz Q&A Forum

    • Forum
    • Questions
    • Users
    • Ask the Community

    Welcome to the Q&A Forum

    Browse the forum for helpful insights and fresh discussions about all things SEO.

    1. Home
    2. SEO Tactics
    3. Technical SEO
    4. How to force a trailing slash after the domain name

    Moz Q&A is closed.

    After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.

    How to force a trailing slash after the domain name

    Technical SEO
    2
    11
    5797
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as question
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with question management privileges can see it.
    • JollyBoy
      JollyBoy last edited by

      My campaign analysis is predictably listing domain.com and domain.com/ as repeated content. I've searched and searched but cannot find a way to force a trailing slash on the end of the domain name unless there's a file or directory after it..

      Is there a way to accomplish this using .htaccess

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • JollyBoy
        JollyBoy @JollyBoy last edited by

        I've gone with this .htaccess from your soulgorithm.com:

        Options +FollowSymlinks
        RewriteEngine on
        RewriteBase /
        RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^www.domain.co.uk [NC]
        RewriteRule (.*) http://domain.co.uk/$1 [L,R=301]

        RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} (.)/$
        RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME}.php -f
        RewriteRule (.
        )/$ $1.php [L]

        RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
        RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME}.php -f
        RewriteRule .* %{REQUEST_FILENAME}/ [R=301,L]

        and I'm now getting the results I'm after. I'm getting similar behaviour to you in Firefox and IE, which explains a lot. I really appreciate the length you've gone to to help me here, so big thank you!

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • BailHotline
          BailHotline @JollyBoy last edited by

          Test Site: soulgorithm.com

          In the .htaccess file for this site:

          Options +FollowSymlinks
          RewriteEngine on
          RewriteBase /
          RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^www.soulgorithm.com [NC]
          RewriteRule (.*) http://soulgorithm.com/$1 [L,R=301]

          RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} (.)/$
          RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME}.html -f
          RewriteRule (.
          )/$ $1.html [L]

          RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} (.)/$
          RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME}.php -f
          RewriteRule (.
          )/$ $1.php [L]

          RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
          RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME}.html -f [OR]
          RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME}.php -f
          RewriteRule .* %{REQUEST_FILENAME}/ [R=301,L]

          Which has the following effect:

          soulgorithm.com > soulgorithm.com/

          (slash is added, but only shows in IE and looks

          likes its being stripped by Firefox but page

          still loads fine)

          soulgorithm.com/ > soulgorithm.com/
             
              (loads fine, but only shows in IE and looks

          likes its being stripped by Firefox but page

          still loads fine)

          soulgorithm.com/test > soulgorithm.com/test/

          (loads fine, slash even shows in FF)

          soulgorithm.com/test/ > soulgorithm.com.com/test/

          (loads fine)

          soulgorithm.com/testdir > soulgorithm.com/testdir/

          (loads fine, slash even shows in FF)

          soulgorithm.com/testdir/ > soulgorithm.com.com/testdir/

          (loads fine, slash even shows in FF)

          Let me know if this is what you see. I feel likes its getting close to working.

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
          • JollyBoy
            JollyBoy @JollyBoy last edited by

            Thanks for sticking with this. Rather than me share the domain, do you know of any example sites using your code (or similar) which add a trailing slash after the domain name? I'd like to rule out my browser stripping it out.

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • BailHotline
              BailHotline @JollyBoy last edited by

              Man, my mind is blown right now. I'm not giving up and hopefully someone else can chime in on this discussion and shed some light on this issue.

              The code provided should have worked. Let me look into it some more. Also, if you don't mind what is the actual domain name?

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • JollyBoy
                JollyBoy @JollyBoy last edited by

                That's right - nothing in there but the code you supplied.

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • BailHotline
                  BailHotline @JollyBoy last edited by

                  Is this the only thing you have in your htaccess file?

                  if not, I would remove everything in the file and only have what i posted above, and let me know if it works.

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • JollyBoy
                    JollyBoy @JollyBoy last edited by

                    Nope. Still no trailing slashes being added.

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • BailHotline
                      BailHotline @JollyBoy last edited by

                      Try just the following:

                      Let me know if this works for you.

                      RewriteEngine On
                      RewriteBase /
                      RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
                      RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !index.php
                      RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !(.*)/$
                      RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://www.domain.com/$1/ [L,R=301]
                      
                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • JollyBoy
                        JollyBoy @BailHotline last edited by

                        Thanks for the reply, but this looks like all the other examples I've found. My .htaccess file looks like this :

                        DirectoryIndex index.php

                        RewriteEngine On
                        RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
                        RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
                        RewriteRule ^(.*)$ $1.php [L,QSA]

                        RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
                        RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !(.)/$
                        RewriteRule ^(.
                        )$ http://domain.co.uk/$1/ [L,R=301]

                        But I get the following redirects going on:

                        domain.co.uk > domain.co.uk (ie nothing happens)

                        domain.co.uk/ > domain.co.uk (ie slash is removed)

                        domain.co.uk/page2 > domain.co.uk/page2 (ie nothing happens, but page loads)

                        domain.co.uk/page2/ > Internal server error

                        Any ideas?

                        BailHotline JollyBoy 8 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • BailHotline
                          BailHotline last edited by

                          Hi Clive.

                          Yes, you can easily do this with an .htaccess file, here is the code:

                          RewriteEngine On RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !(.*)/$ RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://domain.com/$1/ [L,R=301]

                          Just replace "domain.com" with your proper url for your site. This should be all that is needed.

                          Hope this helps!

                          JollyBoy 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • 1 / 1
                          • First post
                            Last post

                          Got a burning SEO question?

                          Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.


                          Start my free trial


                          Browse Questions

                          Explore more categories

                          • Moz Tools

                            Chat with the community about the Moz tools.

                          • SEO Tactics

                            Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers

                          • Community

                            Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!

                          • Digital Marketing

                            Chat about tactics outside of SEO

                          • Research & Trends

                            Dive into research and trends in the search industry.

                          • Support

                            Connect on product support and feature requests.

                          • See all categories

                          Related Questions

                          • Dandelion

                            What should I name my Wordpress homepage?

                            I work almost exclusively in wordpress now. And I always hesitate when it comes to naming a site's homepage. I have to give it a name -  right? I usually pick the business name or /home. And then that is identifies as the site's static homepage in the Wordpress settings and it works just fine. But I've started to get warning that it is an issue because it creates redirects.  For example, I just ran the Ryte service analysis on a website and it warned me about "Non-indexable pages with high relevance" and it's basically my homepage that has 29 incoming links that "passes all pagerank to https://ourdomain/home But what am I supposed to call my homepage if not "Home"? It's not like the old days where anyone has to type it in. The root domain loads the homepage just as it should. Can anybody advise me regarding best practices for what to name a Wordpress homepage for good SEO? With thanks in advance for your help.

                            Technical SEO | | Dandelion
                            0
                          • Pack

                            Redirect non slash to slash

                            Hello SEO gurus We have an issue here ( www.xyz.com.au) is having 200 responses www.xyz.com.au and www.xyz.com.au/ ( when i ran the crawl test i found this ) We have been advised to do a 301 from non slash to slash ( as our other pages are showing up with slash ) for the consistency we decided to go with this but our devs just couldnt do it. Error is - redirect loop and this site is a wordpress one Can anyone help us with this issue? Help is much appreciated.

                            Technical SEO | | Pack
                            0
                          • AlexSG

                            Rel canonical between mirrored domains

                            Hi all & happy new near! I'm new to SEO and could do with a spot of advice: I have a site that has several domains that mirror it (not good, I know...)  So www.site.com, www.site.edu.sg, www.othersite.com all serve up the same content.  I was planning to use rel="canonical" to avoid the duplication but I have a concern: Currently several of these mirrors rank - one, the .com ranks #1 on local google search for some useful keywords. the .edu.sg also shows up as #9 for a dirrerent page. In some cases I have multiple mirrors showing up on a specific serp. I would LIKE to rel canonical everything to the local edu.sg domain since this is most representative of the fact that the site is for a school in Singapore but...
                            -The .com is listed in DMOZ (this used to be important) and none of the volunteers there ever respoded to requests to update it to the .edu.sg
                            -The .com ranks higher than the com.sg page for non-local search so I am guessing google has some kind of algorithm to mark down obviosly local domains in other geographic locations Any opinions on this? Should I rel canonical the .com to the .edu.sg or vice versa? I appreciate any advice or opinion before I pull the trigger and end up shooting myself in the foot! Best regards from Singapore!

                            Technical SEO | | AlexSG
                            0
                          • zeepartner

                            Block Domain in robots.txt

                            Hi. We had some URLs that were indexed in Google from a www1-subdomain. We have now disabled the URLs (returning a 404 - for other reasons we cannot do a redirect from www1 to www) and blocked via robots.txt. But the amount of indexed pages keeps increasing (for 2 weeks now). Unfortunately, I cannot install Webmaster Tools for this subdomain to tell Google to back off... Any ideas why this could be and whether it's normal? I can send you more domain infos by personal message if you want to have a look at it.

                            Technical SEO | | zeepartner
                            0
                          • john25181010

                            How well do .ltd.uk domain names rank?

                            Hi all, do .ltd.uk domain names rank well? How well do they stack up against a .com or .co.uk? I'd really appreciate any feedback from people with any experience with these domains. Thanks John

                            Technical SEO | | john25181010
                            0
                          • SamTurri

                            Any way around buying hosting for an old domain to 301 redirect to a new domain?

                            Howdy. I have just read this QA thread, so I think I have my answer. But I'm going to ask anyway! Basically DomainA.com is being retired, and DomainB.com is going to be launched. We're going to have to redirect numerous URLs from DomainA.com to DomainB.com. I think the way to go about this is to continue paying for hosting for DomainA.com, serving a .htaccess from that hosting account, and then hosting DomainB.com separately. Anybody know of a way to avoid paying for hosting a .htaccess file on DomainA.com? Thanks!

                            Technical SEO | | SamTurri
                            0
                          • Scott-Thomas

                            What is best practice for redirecting "secondary" domain names?

                            For sites with multiple top-level domains that have been secured for a business or organization, I'm curious as to what is considered best practice for setting up 301 redirects for secondary domains. Is it best to do the 301 redirects at the registrar level, or the hosting level? So that .net, .biz, or other secondary domains funnel visitors to the correct primary/main domain name. I'm looking for the "best practice" answer and want to avoid duplicate content problems, or penalties from the search engines. I'm not trying to game the system with dozens of domain names, simply the handful of domains that are important to the client. I've seen some registrars recommend hosting secondary domains, and doing redirects from the hosting level (and they use meta refresh for "domain forwarding," which I want to avoid). It seems rather wasteful to set up hosting for a secondary domain and then 301 each URL.

                            Technical SEO | | Scott-Thomas
                            0
                          • Turkey

                            Issue with .uk.com domain

                            hi i have rockshore.uk.com which is not indexing properly. the internal pages do not show up for the text they have on them, or the title tags. the site is on aekmps shops platform. I understand that a .uk.com is not a proper TLD but i think i have a subdomain of .uk.com Can anyone help? thanks

                            Technical SEO | | Turkey
                            0

                          Get started with Moz Pro!

                          Unlock the power of advanced SEO tools and data-driven insights.

                          Start my free trial
                          Products
                          • Moz Pro
                          • Moz Local
                          • Moz API
                          • Moz Data
                          • STAT
                          • Product Updates
                          Moz Solutions
                          • SMB Solutions
                          • Agency Solutions
                          • Enterprise Solutions
                          • Digital Marketers
                          Free SEO Tools
                          • Domain Authority Checker
                          • Link Explorer
                          • Keyword Explorer
                          • Competitive Research
                          • Brand Authority Checker
                          • Local Citation Checker
                          • MozBar Extension
                          • MozCast
                          Resources
                          • Blog
                          • SEO Learning Center
                          • Help Hub
                          • Beginner's Guide to SEO
                          • How-to Guides
                          • Moz Academy
                          • API Docs
                          About Moz
                          • About
                          • Team
                          • Careers
                          • Contact
                          Why Moz
                          • Case Studies
                          • Testimonials
                          Get Involved
                          • Become an Affiliate
                          • MozCon
                          • Webinars
                          • Practical Marketer Series
                          • MozPod
                          Connect with us

                          Contact the Help team

                          Join our newsletter
                          Moz logo
                          © 2021 - 2025 SEOMoz, Inc., a Ziff Davis company. All rights reserved. Moz is a registered trademark of SEOMoz, Inc.
                          • Accessibility
                          • Terms of Use
                          • Privacy

                          Looks like your connection to Moz was lost, please wait while we try to reconnect.