SEO website migration, build your redirect map page by page

Any change where a large share of a site's URLs change. The usual cases are a redesign with a new structure, a domain change, a CMS change, merging several sites, and a new URL pattern.

The risk is simple. Rankings, backlinks and bookmarks point to the old URLs. Without redirects they land on an error page and the work built over time is lost.

It is the table that pairs every old URL with its new address and a redirect code. It is prepared before launch, tested on staging, and used as the reference after the switch.

1. 1Build a complete inventory of existing URLs. Combine a crawl of the site, the XML sitemap, pages seen in Search Console and in your analytics, and pages that receive backlinks.
2. 2Decide what happens to each URL. Keep as is, redirect to a new page, or remove.
3. 3For each redirected URL, find the closest page in meaning. Not the home page by default.
4. 4Pick the code. 301 for a permanent move. 410 for a page removed with no equivalent, a 404 also works.
5. 5Remove chains and loops. An old URL should reach the final page in a single redirect.
6. 6Update everything that points to old URLs. Internal links, canonical tags, hreflang, XML sitemap, ad campaigns.
7. 7Test on staging, then crawl the list of old URLs right after launch.

Before launch

• URL inventory exported and archived
• Redirect map reviewed, with no chains or loops
• Redirects tested on staging
• Title tags, meta descriptions and content carried over on the pages that matter
• Staging blocked from indexing, and that block removed at launch

On launch day

• Redirects live, checked on a sample of old URLs
• New XML sitemap submitted in Search Console
• Search Console Change of Address tool used for a domain change

In the following weeks

• 404 errors and excluded pages monitored in Search Console
• Traffic and rankings compared page by page with the period before
• Missed redirects fixed as soon as they show up

• Redirecting every old URL to the home page. Google can treat those redirects as pages that were not found.
• Forgetting URLs that are no longer in the menu but still get backlinks or traffic.
• Using temporary 302 redirects for a permanent change.
• Removing redirects too early. Google recommends keeping them for at least a year.

With a free account, import the existing site. Every page comes in with its URL and the status existing. You then mark each page to keep, redirect or remove, enter the target URL, and export the redirect map as CSV with 301 and 410 codes. The generator at the top of this page gives you the new site structure to map against.