A redesign changes what visitors see, but it can also change the addresses they use to reach your content. Old links may appear in search results, customer emails and other websites.
Before replacing a site, make a plan for those URLs. The goal is to preserve useful paths while improving the experience, not to assume a new design automatically preserves every old link.
Inventory the current pages
Record published URLs, their purpose and the corresponding destination in the new design. Include service pages, contact pages, useful articles and files that customers commonly use.
Use search and analytics data where available to identify important entry pages. Also ask staff which links they send to customers. A low-traffic page can still be operationally important.
Map changes before launch
For every URL, mark keep, replace with a relevant destination, or remove after review. A hypothetical map might pair /old-service/ with an updated page about that same service.
Avoid routing every removed page to the homepage by default. The destination should make sense to someone who followed the old link. If there is no equivalent, review how the site should handle the removal.
Test the actual paths
Where a page permanently moves, have the responsible developer configure the appropriate redirect. Test that the old URL reaches the intended page without a loop or a chain of unnecessary steps. Check internal links too; they should point to the current destination.
Google’s documentation explains the role of redirects in moving URLs. Use the documented approach that matches the change rather than guessing based on a visual preview.
Keep a launch review list
After launch, inspect priority pages on mobile, forms, navigation, canonical URLs and the sitemap. Monitor crawl or indexing reports for unexpected changes. Keep the previous inventory so problems can be traced to a specific decision.
A redesign can still produce fluctuations in search performance. A careful URL plan reduces avoidable confusion but does not guarantee that traffic stays unchanged. Treat launch as the beginning of verification, not the end of the project.
Explore JLG’s website design services and current pricing, or contact us to discuss your project.
Reference: Google Search Central: Redirects and Google Search.
