How to Remove the ‘Link Returns to Homepage’ from Your WordPress Site

WordPress is one of the most popular content management systems (CMS) around. With a free version that can be downloaded from WordPress.org, and a cost-effective hosted solution, it’s a popular choice for those who are interested in setting up a blog or website.

One of the most common complaints among WordPress users is that every time they visit a site, they’re greeted by the ‘link returns to home page’ message. While there are several reasons this could be happening, the most common cause is a sloppy developer that has not implemented redirects properly.

Why Does It Happen?

When a user visits a page on your website, their browser makes a request to the server which in turn replies with content that’s suitable for the screen. Most likely, this content is meant to be viewed in a certain way such as in a PDF or image format. Instead, the user finds themselves on a page that looks like the home page or a generic error page.

When this content is loaded, the browser makes another request to the server to load more content. This is where the redirect happens, and it usually takes the form of a ‘link returns to home page’ message. When a user clicks on this message, they’re brought back to the homepage of your website because that’s where the link points. It’s the perfect way to lose a potential customer due to annoyance caused by this issue.

There are several solutions to this problem. The most common method is to use redirects to send browsers from one page to another. For example, if you’re on a page that’s meant to be a landing page and you want to send the user to your site’s homepage, you can use the following code: