Website redesign SEO checklist: keep your traffic when URLs change

Most of the search traffic lost in a redesign isn't lost because the new site is worse. It's lost because pages moved to new addresses and nobody told Google. This checklist follows Google's own guidance on site moves, in the order you'd actually do the work.

Before you change anything

1. List every URL on the current site. Start with the sitemap, then add pages that bring visits (from analytics) and pages other sites link to (from Search Console's Links report). Don't forget PDFs and images that people link to directly.
2. Record what each important page says. Save its title, meta description and main heading. Pages that already rank should keep their topic, even if the wording improves.
3. Get Search Console access. If the site isn't verified yet, verify it now. You need its reports to compare before and after.

Map old URLs to new ones

Build a simple two-column sheet: old URL, new URL. Google recommends mapping each old page to its closest equivalent, and warns against sending many old URLs to one unrelated page such as the new homepage.

• One old page should point to one new page wherever possible.
• If a page is retired with no equivalent, point it to the closest relevant section, or let it return a proper 404.
• Each new page should have a canonical tag pointing to itself.

Set up the redirects

Google recommends server-side permanent redirects (HTTP 301 or 308) for a site move. Two rules matter most:

• Redirect straight to the final page. Avoid chains such as old page to interim page to new page. Google suggests keeping any chain to no more than about three hops, and zero is better.
• Keep redirects for a long time. Google's advice is “generally at least 1 year.” In practice, leave them in place indefinitely if you can.

Update everything that points at old URLs

• Internal links in menus, footers and page content
• Your XML sitemap, which should list only the new URLs
• Google Business Profile, social profiles and ad campaigns
• Important external links, by asking the linking sites, where practical

Launch day

1. Switch on the redirects at the same moment the new site goes live.
2. Test a sample of old URLs, including your top pages, and confirm each lands on the right new page with a 301.
3. Submit the new sitemap in Search Console.
4. If the domain itself changed, use Search Console's Change of Address tool. It isn't needed when only paths change on the same domain.

The first weeks after launch

Google says visibility “may fluctuate temporarily during the move,” and that for a medium-sized site it can take a few weeks or longer for new URLs to replace old ones. During that time:

• Watch the Page indexing report: old URLs should drop out as new ones are indexed.
• Check for 404 errors and fix any old URL that slipped through the map.
• Compare search clicks for your top pages with the weeks before launch.

A short dip that recovers is normal. A sustained drop on specific pages usually points to a missing redirect or a page that lost the content it used to rank for.

Need help with a redesign?

Our website redesign service includes the URL audit, redirect map and 30 days of post-launch monitoring. Before launch, run through our technical SEO launch checklist as well.