Redirect Strategy for Website Migration: Preserving SEO Value

Migrating to a new site? Redirects preserve SEO value. Do it wrong, and you lose rankings. Do it right, and you maintain — or improve — visibility.

301 Redirects

• Permanent — Tells search engines the page moved. Passes most link equity.
• One-to-one — Old URL → new URL. Map every important page.
• Avoid chains — A → B → C. Redirect directly to final URL.

What to Redirect

• All indexed pages — Check Search Console. Every URL with impressions or backlinks.
• Important URLs — Even if low traffic. They may have backlinks.
• Canonical URLs — Redirect to the canonical. Don’t create new duplicates.

What to Consolidate

• Thin pages — Merge into a stronger page. 301 the thin one to the strong one.
• Duplicate content — One canonical. Redirect the rest.
• Outdated — If content is obsolete, 301 to the closest relevant page. Or remove and 410.

Redirect Map

• Spreadsheet — Old URL, new URL, redirect type. Audit before launch.
• Testing — After launch, verify. Every redirect in the map should work.

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We handle redirect strategy for every migration. Plan your rebuild.