htaccess referral redirect

Knowledgebase

htaccess & Redirects | Updated 2026

You can use .htaccess to redirect visitors based on the referring URL (the page they came from). This is useful for blocking spam referrers, redirecting traffic from specific sources, or creating landing pages for campaign links.

Block Spam Referrers

Stop fake referral traffic

Add to .htaccess:
RewriteEngine On RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} spamdomain\.com [NC] RewriteRule .* - [F,L]
This returns a 403 Forbidden to any visitor referred from spamdomain.com.

01. Redirect Based on Referrer

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} partnerdomain\.com [NC]
RewriteRule ^$ /landing-page.html [L,R=302]

This redirects visitors coming from partnerdomain.com to a specific landing page on your site.

02. Block Multiple Spam Referrers

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} spam1\.com [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} spam2\.com [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} spam3\.com [NC]
RewriteRule .* - [F,L]

For the complete .htaccess reference, see .htaccess Guide. For hotlink protection (blocking other sites from embedding your images), use cPanel > Security > Hotlink Protection.