Quick Question on Redirects

[JayAdams32]

This might be a silly question, but one important enough for me to ensure that I understand the best practice of URL redirects...

I'm thinking of changing my URL's and hierachy of some of my WP subpages around, in order to logically fit the keyword into the url and place the subpage closer to the root domain.

My question is, when doing this, can I simply edit the URL and create a redirect after the fact, essentially killing the old URL. Or, do I create the new page with the updated URL and hierarchy, keeping the old page live and intact, but have that 301 redirect to its new corresponding destination?

Thanks

[RyanKent]

If you add the redirect correctly, the old web page does not need to exist any longer.

Can I simply edit the URL and create a redirect after the fact, essentially killing the old URL?

Yes.

Be sure to always test any redirects after they are made.