Redirect Requests

Redirects

The web team processes redirects, also known as vanity URLs. Redirects help guide visitors to pages proper locations if a page has moved or no longer exist. Vanity URL's are also provided so departments at the university can publicize more succinct URLs for their websites.

An example of a redirect would be: 
https://www.sandiego.edu/callers/ points to https://www.sandiego.edu/giving/how-to-give/telefunding-center/who-are-we.php

URL's are case sensitive and it is standard practice that vanity URL's be in all lowercase. If you are using multiple words in your redirect, they should be separated by hyphens for better SEO performance. For example, https://www.sandiego.edu/applying-to-usd/ is an SEO-friendly redirect. 

Requesting a Redirect

Redirect requests should be submitted via the online web request form and selecting the Redirect/Vanity URL option. You will need to include both the desired URL as well as where the link should point. The turnaround time for a redirect request is 1 business day from the time we receive the request.

Subdomain Requests

A subdomain is the following: http://law.sandiego.edu -> law is the subdomain for sandiego.edu

Unfortunately subdomains are not offered by USD at this time except as redirects. That is, the address law.sandiego.edu redirects to www.sandiego.edu/law. The subdomain URL can function as a redirect to the main www server but cannot serve as the primary URL for any department, school, or center's website at the University of San Diego.

Moving from the current architecture (www.sandiego.edu/law) to utilizing a subdomain (law.sandiego.edu) can create some very significant search engine optimization issues, where there is a high potential to lose more than half of your ranking.