🔍 Overview
Some Website Studio users have noticed two related issues with their published sites: inconsistent HTTP-to-HTTPS redirects that route visitors to an unexpected /welcome page, and invalid URLs returning raw XML error messages (such as a NoSuchKey response) instead of a clean 404 or homepage redirect. This article explains what causes these issues, what has been fixed, and what you can do right now to minimise disruption for your visitors.
⚠️ What These Issues Look Like
- Visiting the HTTP version of your site (e.g. http://yourdomain.com) redirects inconsistently — sometimes landing on /welcome instead of your homepage.
- Typing a URL that does not exist on your site (e.g. http://yourdomain.com/page-that-doesnt-exist) returns a raw XML error response containing text like NoSuchKey rather than a friendly 404 page or a redirect to your homepage.
- Visitors see a broken or confusing dead-end instead of being guided back to your content.
🧩 Why This Happens
Website Studio sites are hosted on a CDN (Content Delivery Network). Two specific CDN-level behaviours were responsible for these errors:
- Inconsistent HTTP redirect rule: The rule that forwards HTTP traffic to the secure HTTPS version of your site was not firing reliably, causing some requests to land on an internal /welcome route instead of your homepage.
- Missing custom error handling: When a visitor requests a URL that does not exist, the CDN returned its default raw XML error response instead of a branded 404 page or a redirect back to your homepage. This is a poor experience and can confuse visitors and search engines alike.
✅ What Has Been Fixed
Our engineering team has resolved both of these issues at the platform level:
- HTTP-to-HTTPS redirect — The redirect rule has been corrected so that all HTTP requests consistently forward to the HTTPS version of your homepage, with no unexpected stops at /welcome.
- Invalid URL error handling — The raw XML NoSuchKey response has been replaced with proper error-state handling. Visitors who land on a non-existent URL will now see a clean error page rather than raw server output.
These fixes are applied automatically to all Website Studio sites hosted on our CDN. No action is required on your part for the core fixes to take effect.
🔧 Steps to Verify Your Site Is Working Correctly
- Open a browser and visit the HTTP version of your domain (e.g. http://yourdomain.com). Confirm it redirects to the HTTPS homepage without stopping at /welcome.
- Test an invalid URL on your site (e.g. https://yourdomain.com/this-page-does-not-exist). You should see a clean error page — not raw XML text.
- Clear your browser cache and repeat both tests to rule out cached responses.
- If you use a third-party DNS provider, confirm that your CNAME or A record still points to the correct Search Atlas CDN endpoint. Stale DNS records can cause redirects to behave unexpectedly.
💡 Best Practices to Avoid Future Redirect Issues
- Always publish your site through Website Studio after making domain changes. Republishing triggers a fresh CDN configuration for your site.
- Use HTTPS links everywhere — in your internal links, social profiles, and any external references to your site. Relying on HTTP-to-HTTPS redirects for regular traffic adds an unnecessary step and can introduce latency.
- Check your site after domain changes. Any time you update your custom domain settings, run through the verification steps above to catch redirect issues early.
- Monitor for XML error responses by periodically testing a few invalid URLs on your site, especially after a republish.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
Will this affect my SEO? Temporary redirect inconsistencies and raw error responses can cause search engines to misindex pages. Now that the fixes are in place, search engines will correctly follow the HTTPS redirect and receive proper error codes for missing pages. If your site was affected for an extended period, allow a few weeks for search engines to re-crawl and update their index.
Do I need to set up custom redirects myself? No. The HTTP-to-HTTPS redirect and basic error handling are managed automatically by the platform. You do not need to configure these manually in Website Studio.
What if I still see the /welcome page or raw XML errors after the fix? First, clear your browser and DNS cache. If the problem persists, the issue may be specific to your domain configuration. Contact support using the instructions below.
🆘 Still Experiencing Issues?
If you have followed the steps above and are still seeing inconsistent redirects or raw XML error responses on your site, our team is ready to help. If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.