🛠️ Troubleshooting

Advanced Troubleshooting & Emergency Procedures

📚 Table of Contents

⚠️ Common Error Patterns

🔄 Redirect Chain Problems

Problem: Multiple redirects in sequence causing slow loading
Example: URL A → URL B → URL C → Final URL
# Identify redirect chains curl -L -v https://yourdomain.com/start-url 2>&1 | grep -E "(HTTP|Location)" | head -20 # Fix by creating direct redirects # Instead of: /old → /intermediate → /new # Use: /old → /new directly # .htaccess fix Redirect 301 /old-page /final-destination # Remove intermediate redirects

🔃 Infinite Redirect Loops

Symptoms: ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS browser error
Common Causes: Conflicting rules, incorrect regex patterns, DNS issues
# Debug redirect loops curl -L --max-redirs 5 -v https://yourdomain.com/problem-url # Common .htaccess loop example (WRONG): RewriteRule ^(.*)$ /$1 [R=301,L] # This redirects to itself! # Fixed version: RewriteRule ^old-page/?$ /new-page [R=301,L]

🚫 Soft 404 Errors

Soft 404: Page returns 200 status but shows "not found" content
Problem: Search engines can't distinguish between real content and error pages
# Wrong: Returns 200 but shows error message <h1>Page Not Found</h1> <p>Sorry, this page doesn't exist.</p> # Correct: Return proper 404 status <?php http_response_code(404); ?> <h1>Page Not Found</h1> <p>Sorry, this page doesn't exist.</p>

📱 Mobile Redirect Issues

🔧 Common Mobile Problems

  • Desktop users redirected to mobile site
  • Mobile users stuck in redirect loops
  • Tablet users getting wrong version
  • App deep-links not working

✅ Mobile Redirect Best Practices

  • Use responsive design instead of separate mobile site
  • If using separate mobile site, ensure proper bidirectional linking
  • Test with various device user agents
  • Provide easy way to switch between versions

🌐 Browser Caching Issues

🧠 Understanding Browser Caching

301 Redirect Caching: Browsers permanently cache 301 redirects, meaning users might continue to be redirected even after you remove the redirect from your server.

🔧 Cache-Related Troubleshooting

  1. Identify Cache Issues
    • Redirect works in incognito/private mode but not regular browsing
    • Different browsers show different behavior
    • New users don't experience the problem
    • Server logs show correct response but user sees old behavior
  2. Clear Browser Cache Methods
    • Hard refresh: Ctrl+F5 (Windows) or Cmd+Shift+R (Mac)
    • Clear browsing data in browser settings
    • Use developer tools to disable cache
    • Test in different browsers or incognito mode
  3. Prevent Future Cache Issues
    • Use 302 redirects for temporary changes
    • Test redirects thoroughly before implementing 301s
    • Communicate cache clearing to users when necessary
    • Consider using different URLs for testing

🛠️ Cache Debugging Commands

# Check cache headers curl -I https://yourdomain.com/page # Test with cache-busting parameter curl -I https://yourdomain.com/page?v=123 # Check if redirect is server-side or cached curl -I --header "Cache-Control: no-cache" https://yourdomain.com/page # Test with different user agents curl -I -H "User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0" https://yourdomain.com/page

📋 Cache Removal Strategies

Real-World Scenario: You implemented a 301 redirect by mistake and need to remove it, but users' browsers are still cached.
  1. Immediate Actions
    • Remove the redirect from server configuration
    • Verify redirect is actually removed server-side
    • Document the issue and timeline
  2. User Communication
    • Create help page explaining cache clearing
    • Send email to affected users if possible
    • Post on social media with clear instructions
    • Update customer service team with talking points
  3. Technical Workarounds
    • Temporarily redirect the destination back to original
    • Use JavaScript redirects as temporary fix
    • Implement cache-busting parameters
    • Monitor and track affected users

⚙️ Server Configuration Conflicts

🔧 Apache Configuration Issues

# Common .htaccess conflicts # Problem: WordPress rules overriding custom redirects # Solution: Place custom redirects BEFORE WordPress rules # CORRECT ORDER: RewriteEngine On # Custom redirects first Redirect 301 /old-page /new-page # WordPress rules after # BEGIN WordPress RewriteRule ^index\.php$ - [L] RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d RewriteRule . /index.php [L] # END WordPress

🌐 Nginx Configuration Problems

# Common Nginx issues # Problem: Location block order affecting redirects # Solution: More specific locations first server { # Specific redirects first location /old-specific-page { return 301 /new-specific-page; } # General patterns after location ~ ^/old-category/(.*)$ { return 301 /new-category/$1; } # Main location block last location / { try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$query_string; } }

☁️ CDN and Proxy Issues

🌍 Cloudflare Issues

  • Page Rules Limits: Free plan limited to 3 rules
  • Cache Interference: Cached responses overriding redirects
  • SSL/TLS Settings: Conflicting with redirect rules
  • Wildcard Patterns: Incorrect pattern matching

🔧 Resolution Steps

  • Purge CDN cache after implementing redirects
  • Check page rule priority and patterns
  • Verify SSL/TLS mode compatibility
  • Test from multiple geographic locations

🛡️ Security Plugin Conflicts

Common Conflict: Security plugins blocking or interfering with redirect functionality
  • Wordfence blocking redirect attempts
  • Sucuri WAF interfering with .htaccess rules
  • Rate limiting preventing redirect testing
  • IP blocking affecting redirect verification
# Debug security plugin interference # Check if security plugin is blocking # 1. Temporarily disable security plugin # 2. Test redirects # 3. If working, configure plugin to allow redirects # Common Wordfence whitelist addition # Dashboard → Wordfence → Firewall → Whitelisted URLs # Add: /your-redirect-path/*

📈 Traffic Recovery Strategies

📊 Diagnosing Traffic Loss

Quick Assessment Questions:
  • When did traffic start declining?
  • Which pages are most affected?
  • Are redirects returning correct status codes?
  • Has search engine indexing changed?
  • Are there increased 404 errors?

🔍 Investigation Process

  1. Analyze Traffic Patterns
    • Compare traffic before and after redirect implementation
    • Identify most affected pages and keywords
    • Check organic vs. other traffic sources
    • Analyze user behavior metrics (bounce rate, session duration)
  2. Search Console Analysis
    • Review coverage report for errors
    • Check performance data for affected keywords
    • Monitor crawl stats for any anomalies
    • Verify redirected URLs are being indexed
  3. Technical Validation
    • Verify all redirects return proper 301 status
    • Check that destination pages load correctly
    • Ensure no redirect chains or loops
    • Validate page speed and Core Web Vitals

⚡ Recovery Action Plan

🚨 Immediate Actions (Day 1)

  • Fix any broken redirects immediately
  • Submit updated sitemap to search engines
  • Check and fix any 404 errors
  • Verify destination pages are optimized

📈 Short-term Recovery (Week 1-2)

  • Monitor search engine re-crawling
  • Track ranking changes for target keywords
  • Optimize destination pages for better performance
  • Create content to support redirected pages

🎯 Long-term Strategy (Month 1-3)

  • Build additional content around target keywords
  • Acquire new backlinks to redirected pages
  • Monitor and adjust redirect strategy
  • Document lessons learned for future

📋 Recovery Monitoring Checklist

  • Daily monitoring of traffic trends and search console errors
  • Weekly ranking checks for affected keywords
  • Bi-weekly competitor analysis to understand market changes
  • Monthly performance review and strategy adjustment
  • Quarterly redirect audit to optimize and clean up

🚨 Emergency Response Procedures

⚡ Crisis Response Framework

Definition of Emergency:
  • Site-wide redirect failures causing 500 errors
  • Traffic drop of >50% within 24 hours
  • Complete loss of search engine rankings
  • Infinite redirect loops affecting all users

🔧 Emergency Response Steps

  1. Immediate Assessment (0-15 minutes)
    • Confirm the scope and severity of the issue
    • Identify which redirects are causing problems
    • Check server status and error logs
    • Notify key stakeholders immediately
  2. Emergency Response (15-60 minutes)
    • Disable problematic redirects
    • Restore last known good configuration
    • Verify site functionality is restored
    • Implement temporary fixes if needed
  3. Stabilization (1-4 hours)
    • Monitor system stability and user reports
    • Analyze root cause in staging environment
    • Develop proper fix for the underlying issue
    • Plan implementation of permanent solution
  4. Recovery (4-24 hours)
    • Implement tested fix in production
    • Monitor for any remaining issues
    • Update monitoring and alerting systems
    • Conduct post-incident review

📱 Emergency Contact Procedures

# Emergency notification script #!/bin/bash INCIDENT_TYPE="Redirect Emergency" SEVERITY="Critical" AFFECTED_URLS="https://yourdomain.com/*" CONTACT_LIST="[email protected],[email protected]" # Send immediate alert echo "CRITICAL: $INCIDENT_TYPE affecting $AFFECTED_URLS" | \ mail -s "URGENT: Website Emergency" $CONTACT_LIST # Send to Slack curl -X POST -H 'Content-type: application/json' \ --data "{\"text\":\"🚨 CRITICAL: $INCIDENT_TYPE\\nAffected: $AFFECTED_URLS\\nSeverity: $SEVERITY\"}" \ $SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL

🛠️ Emergency Rollback Procedures

# Quick rollback script #!/bin/bash # Backup current configuration cp .htaccess .htaccess.backup.$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S) # Restore last known good configuration if [ -f ".htaccess.lastgood" ]; then cp .htaccess.lastgood .htaccess echo "Rolled back to last good configuration" else # Emergency minimal .htaccess cat > .htaccess << EOF # Emergency minimal configuration RewriteEngine On # Add only essential redirects here EOF echo "Applied emergency minimal configuration" fi # Clear any caches # Add cache clearing commands specific to your setup

📋 Post-Incident Review Process

  1. Incident Documentation
    • Timeline of events and actions taken
    • Root cause analysis and contributing factors
    • Impact assessment (traffic, revenue, users affected)
    • Response time and resolution time
  2. Process Improvement
    • Identify what worked well and what didn't
    • Update monitoring and alerting systems
    • Improve testing and staging procedures
    • Update emergency response procedures
  3. Prevention Measures
    • Implement additional safeguards
    • Update team training and documentation
    • Review and test backup and recovery procedures
    • Schedule regular redirect audits
Remember: The goal of emergency procedures is not just to fix the immediate problem, but to prevent similar issues in the future. Always conduct thorough post-incident reviews and implement improvements.