Your learning path: 93 lessons.
Module 14 / Lesson 75 · Read, apply, check
Map important old URLs to appropriate new destinations and verify redirect behavior before launch.
Collect old URLs from navigation, sitemaps, search evidence, analytics and important external references where available. Preserve high-value pages and support resources in the inventory. A current crawl alone can miss old destinations that customers still reach through saved or external links.
Choose the closest genuinely equivalent new destination for each old URL. Record pages intentionally removed without a replacement separately. Sending every old page to a generic homepage may retain a successful response but fail the original task and create misleading migration coverage.
For permanent moves, plan appropriate permanent redirects and update internal links to final destinations. Avoid unnecessary chains and loops. Coordinate canonicals, sitemaps and other references so the new URLs are represented consistently rather than leaving contradictory signals across templates.
Check old URL, first response, final URL, final response and content equivalence. Include query variants, uppercase or trailing-slash cases where relevant to the actual site. Keep the map versioned and name the person responsible for resolving unmatched important URLs before launch.
→ /courses/seo-foundations: course information retained.
→ /help/certificates: learner support retained.
No equivalent: document intentional treatment.
First response → final URL → final response → task fulfilled.
Hypothetical example: a training company moves /seo-intro to /courses/seo-foundations and /support/certificate to /help/certificates. The first mapping preserves course information; the second preserves an existing learner’s support task. A third retired workshop has no equivalent current offering and needs an explicit removal decision. During staging tests, the certificate URL redirects through two legacy paths before reaching the new help page. The engineer simplifies the route and verifies the final content. The team also updates internal references and the new sitemap. The map is considered ready when representative paths behave as specified, not when a spreadsheet merely contains a destination in every row.
A migration script sends every unmatched URL to the new homepage and labels all rows successful because they end in a 200 response. Old manual links now lead to general marketing content, and the team cannot distinguish preserved journeys from lost ones. That report hides the semantic failures. The mapping process should document intentional removals and unresolved equivalents rather than forcing a superficially successful destination for every URL.
Misconception: a redirect is good whenever its final response is successful. The destination must also serve the old page’s purpose. A migration report should verify both response behavior and meaningful continuity for users.
A large migration may need phased mapping and sampling, but important URLs deserve explicit decisions. Platform redirects and domain changes have additional operational requirements. Use current official guidance and a rollback plan before production deployment.
Do this today · 45 minutes
Map important old URLs to appropriate new destinations and verify redirect behavior before launch.
An old/new URL inventory and staging access, or the three sample URLs in this lesson.
Old: /seo-intro, /support/certificate, /retired-workshop. New equivalents: /courses/seo-foundations, /help/certificates; no replacement for the retired workshop.
Before: Every old URL → homepage → “100% migrated.”
After: Equivalent destinations verified; retired content and unresolved mappings explicitly recorded.
Notes stay in this browser. Download a copy to keep them.
Repeat representative tests after launch and monitor old-URL errors and new indexing evidence; keep the mapping available for support and future maintenance.
Before you move on
A site migration redirects a course page to its equivalent new course and a certificate-help page to the homepage. Both final pages return 200, so a report marks the migration fully successful. Which correction should the SEO lead require before accepting that report?
Next lesson →Lesson edition 1 · References reviewed 15 October 2026 · Practical exercise reviewed 15 October 2026. Examples are illustrative teaching scenarios.
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