Redirect Strategy for Migrations That Keep Rankings

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.

Google does not move a ranking because the design looks similar. It follows the 301, the content match, and the internal links. The redirect map protects all three.

301 Redirects

• Permanent. A 301 tells crawlers the page moved for good and passes most link equity. Use it for a redesign, CMS switch, or domain change.
• Not 302. A 302 is temporary. Google may keep the old URL in the index. Fine for a two-week promo. Wrong for a launch.
• One-to-one. Old URL → the single new URL that replaces that content. Closest equivalent, not a generic dump.
• No chains. A → B → C leaks equity and burns crawl budget. Point A at C.
• HTTPS and host in one hop. http://www.old.com/page should land on https://new.com/page directly.

Meta-refresh and JavaScript-only redirects are not a strategy. Implement 301s at the server or edge (nginx, Cloudflare, Vercel, Netlify).

What to Redirect

• All indexed pages. Search Console → Pages and Performance. Export every URL with impressions or clicks. Those must resolve.
• URLs with backlinks. A low-traffic URL can still pass equity. Pull referring pages from a crawler or backlink tool and include them.
• Canonical URLs only as targets. Redirect to the URL you will canonicalize and put in the sitemap. Do not create a new duplicate on the destination site.
• Files people linked. PDFs, old /wp-content/uploads/ paths, and campaign landers. If a PDF moves, 301 the file URL or host it at the same path.

If you keep a URL unchanged (same path, same host), you do not redirect it. You leave it. Unnecessary 301s to “the same page” still cost a hop.

What to Consolidate

• Thin pages. Merge into a stronger page. 301 each thin URL to that survivor. Do not keep both live.
• Duplicate content. One canonical. Redirect the extras if they no longer need to exist. Canonical alone is for URLs that must stay reachable (filters). Migration is when you can delete the extras.
• Outdated content. Closest relevant page gets the 301. If nothing is relevant, return 410 and leave it out of the sitemap. A homepage catch-all trains Google that your 301s are irrelevant.

Redirect Map Process

Do this before launch — not the night of.

1. Collect old URLs. Screaming Frog crawl. Search Console exports. Current sitemap. Analytics landing pages (12–16 months). One column: Old URL.
2. Add evidence. Status, impressions, clicks, referring domains, content type.
3. Assign the destination. New URL | Type (301 or 410) | Match (exact / consolidate / none). Exact first, then consolidate, then 410.
4. Normalize. Same protocol, host, and trailing-slash rule as the new site. No chains in the sheet.
5. Implement. Export rules the platform can ingest (CSV, _redirects, nginx map). Sheet stays source of truth.
6. Test before cutover. Request each old path. Confirm 301 and Location. Spot-check with curl -I.
7. Test after launch. Screaming Frog list mode on the old URL column. Fail any 404, 200-on-old-path, 302, or wrong target.
8. Monitor 2–6 weeks. Search Console 404s and “Page with redirect.” Submit the new sitemap. Request indexing on top commercial URLs.

Example rows

Old URL	New URL	Type	Notes
/about-us/	/about/	301	Exact
/blog/seo-tips/	/resources/blog/technical-seo-audit-checklist/	301	Closest successor
/services/seo/	/services/seo-growth/	301	Renamed
/events/2018-mixer/	—	410	No replacement

Update internal links to the new URLs. Redirects are a safety net for bookmarks and backlinks, not a substitute for clean HTML.

Common Mistakes

• 302s on a permanent launch
• Homepage catch-all instead of one-to-one maps
• Chains left over from the old CMS
• Skipping URLs that have backlinks but little traffic

For a full CMS move (content, schema, robots), use this map inside the CMS migration checklist.

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We handle redirect strategy for every migration. Plan your rebuild or start the map before the CMS work begins.