Magic Umbraco Routing Properties You Didn't Know

Routing in Umbraco is highly flexible, allowing you to customize URL structures, manage redirects, and optimize content accessibility. This guide consolidates four reserved Umbraco routing properties: umbracoUrlAlias, umbracoInternalRedirectId, umbracoUrlName, and umbracoRedirect. These properties enable you to enhance user navigation, maintain SEO-friendly URLs, and simplify content management.

💡 The articles below complement the official Umbraco routing documentation, providing deeper insights and practical use cases for special routing properties.

No Extra Code Needed!

One of the biggest advantages of these routing properties is that they are reserved properties in Umbraco, meaning you don’t need to write any additional code to use them.

Simply configure them in the backoffice, and Umbraco will handle the routing automatically.

1. Alternative URLs with umbracoUrlAlias

The umbracoUrlAlias property allows you to define alternative paths for an Umbraco node, making content accessible through multiple URLs.

This is particularly useful for supporting multiple languages, marketing-friendly URLs, or legacy paths.

  • Enables multiple URLs for a single node.

  • Useful for SEO and user experience.

  • Avoids unnecessary redirects.

Read more about umbracoUrlAlias

2. Custom URL Names with umbracoUrlName

The umbracoUrlName property lets you override the default node name in the URL.

This is useful when you need to customize how Umbraco generates URLs, especially for multilingual content or simplified slugs.

Key Benefits:

  • Define human-readable URLs.

  • Improve SEO by customizing URL structures.

  • Avoid automatic URL generation conflicts.

Find out how to use umbracoUrlName

3. Internal Redirects with umbracoInternalRedirectId

The umbracoInternalRedirectId property allows you to set up a node as a placeholder that internally redirects users to another page within Umbraco.

This is helpful when managing marketing pages or dynamically redirecting content.

Example Use Cases:

  • A campaign landing page redirecting to an actual article.

  • Maintaining structured URLs while pointing to existing content.

Learn how to use umbracoInternalRedirectId

4. 302 Redirects with umbracoRedirect

The umbracoRedirect property allows you to create temporary (302) redirects, sending users to another URL.

Unlike umbracoInternalRedirectId, this property performs an actual HTTP redirect rather than an internal page resolution.

Why Use umbracoRedirect?

  • Redirect outdated pages to new ones without affecting SEO.

  • Implement temporary marketing redirects.

  • Provide a smooth user experience when restructuring content.

See how to implement umbracoRedirect

Conclusion

Umbraco provides powerful built-in routing properties that you can use immediately - no extra coding is needed. This makes it easy to improve your project’s maintainability and keep your codebase clean and efficient.

Whether you want to create alternative URLs, set up internal redirects, customize URL slugs, or manage temporary redirects, these properties help you completely control your website’s structure with minimal effort.

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