The Redirect Compass: Managing Redirects in AEM Projects

URL redirects might not be the most exciting part of an AEM project, but they're absolutely critical. From content migrations to SEO preservation, the humble redirect keeps digital experiences running smoothly. Yet despite their importance, many projects struggle with finding the right approach to managing them effectively. In this session, we want to provide a practical roadmap for redirect management in AEM.

We'll break down redirects into their different categories, including:

• Technical Redirects (e.g. protocol switches, extension enforcement)
• Redirects based on additional information (e.g Geolocation)
• Editorial Redirects
• SEO Redirects

Then we'll look at the available options across the architectural layers:

• Edge (CDN/Edge Delivery)
  • Performance-critical and high-volume redirects
  • Adobe CDN Pipeline Limitations
  • Caching of redirects
• Dispatcher
  • New Pipeline-free URL Redirects (maintained in AEM)
  • Static redirect maps deployed through the pipeline
• AEM
  • Content-aware and dynamic redirects
  • Implementation approaches:
    • Vanity URLs
    • Redirect pages and properties
    • Sling mappings
  • ACS AEM Commons solutions (Redirect Map Manager and Redirect Manager)

Throughout the talk, we'll evaluate the options against the key considerations:

• Performance
• Flexibility
• Maintainability/Scale
• Version control and deployment considerations

Based on this information, we want to provide practical insights on selecting the right redirect solutions for your specific use cases and technical constraints.