--- title: "Redesigning Without Losing Traffic: The Redirect Map to Prepare" description: "Redesigning without losing traffic starts with a redirect map that pairs every old URL with its new destination before launch day." canonical: "https://socialinfluencebuilder.com/en/blog/website-redesign-redirect-map/" lastmod: "2018-08-15T19:49:00+00:00" lang: "en-CA" format: "markdown" --- HTML version: # Redesigning Without Losing Traffic: The Redirect Map to Prepare > **Archive note.** This article describes the situation as it stood when it was published. The rules, tools and features it mentions may have changed since. Check the current information with the official source before acting. Redesigning without losing traffic comes down to one document you prepare before launch day: a redirect map that pairs every old URL with the page meant to replace it. I have watched small businesses across Greater Montréal get a polished new site and then watch their organic traffic slide, because the old URLs simply vanished and every link Google had already indexed broke. That means lost rankings and lost customers. Website redesign SEO redirects are how you carry your existing search equity into the new site instead of starting over. ## Redesigning without losing traffic: build the redirect map before launch A redirect map documents every old URL next to its new destination, and building it beforehand means the 301 redirects go live the same day the new site does, not weeks later while rankings slide. In my April 2018 post on moving to HTTPS, I covered the mechanics of 301 redirects and redirect chains, so I will not repeat them here. This article is about the map itself: listing what you already have, deciding what moves, and pairing each address with its replacement before your developer touches anything. ## URL structure changes: deciding what actually needs to move URL structure changes decide which addresses actually move, so I start by listing every indexed URL from Search Console and the old XML sitemap in a spreadsheet. A url structure change is what breaks Google's existing index, so the goal is to move as few URLs as you can and to know exactly where each one lands. Pull the list from the Coverage report and the current sitemap, then mark each row: keep, move, merge or retire. Pages that keep their purpose should keep their address whenever the new platform allows it. ### Bilingual URLs: keeping French and English pages paired through the redesign Bilingual sites carry two sets of URLs that have to stay paired, so a `/fr/` page and its `/en/` counterpart move together or not at all. If your English `/en/services/web-design` moves, its French `/fr/services/conception-web` should move at the same time, so no page loses its partner. When the new platform rewrites French slugs, accented characters often change (conception-numérique becomes conception-numerique), and every hreflang pair and internal link has to follow that change. Map the two languages side by side, one column for the old French URL, one for the new, and the same for English. Google notices orphaned hreflang pairs and can devalue both versions, so keep the columns aligned. ## Content consolidation: merging thin service pages into one stronger page Content consolidation merges pages too thin to rank on their own, but only when they genuinely say the same thing. A contractor with separate Laval, Terrebonne and Repentigny pages should consolidate them only if the pages are near-duplicates; if each one names real projects and real neighbourhoods, keep it. When the pages do overlap, I pull the useful content from each, weave it into one well-built [web design](/en/conception-web/) page, and 301 the old URLs to it so the authority those pages earned pools in one stronger destination. Migrate the substance first, then redirect, rather than deleting the pages and hoping for the best. ## Redirect map: pairing every old URL with its new destination The redirect map pairs every old URL with the new one it should point to, in a simple spreadsheet with four columns: old URL, new URL, redirect type and status. Most pages use a 301, which tells search engines the move is permanent and passes the page's authority to the new destination. If a page is being deleted without a replacement, map it to the closest relevant live page instead of letting it fall to a 404. Work through every URL on your crawl list and fill in each row before your developer starts. That document becomes your implementation checklist. ## XML sitemap and internal links: pointing straight at the new URLs Your XML sitemap and internal links should point straight at the new URLs, never at the old ones and never through a redirect. Submit a fresh sitemap to Google Search Console the day the new site goes live, listing only the final destination URLs, with no redirected paths and no old slugs. Then audit your internal links: every menu item, button, footer link and in-content anchor should point directly to the new URL, because linking through a redirect adds a step that slows crawling and dilutes how authority passes between pages. I crawl the new site with Screaming Frog, filter the internal links report for redirects, and fix each one at the source. ## Search Console monitoring: catching missed redirects after launch Search Console is where you catch the URLs that slipped through, so I check the Coverage and Pages reports every week for the first month after launch. A few URLs almost always escape even a careful redirect map. Watch for 404 errors on old URLs, which usually mean a redirect was never set up; crawled-but-not-indexed notices on new URLs, which point to a problem on the destination; and drops in impressions, which suggest Google lost track of a page. When you spot a 404, add the missing redirect right away and ask Google for [indexation](/en/glossary/#indexation) of the new URL. You can see the approach on [a similar project](/en/sabbya/). ## Pre-launch redirect checklist The pre-launch redirect checklist is the last thing I run before a site goes live, so nothing slips through on launch day. - Confirm every old URL has a mapped destination in the spreadsheet - Test each redirect with a crawler such as Screaming Frog - Verify redirects return a 301, not a 302 or a chain - Check that your XML sitemap lists only new, live URLs - Submit the updated sitemap to Google Search Console right after launch - Confirm French and English pages still point to each other through hreflang I review this list with clients before launch. An hour spent here saves you days of cleanup afterward. ## Go further - **Service:** [Website design in Montreal built to convert visitors into customers](https://socialinfluencebuilder.com/en/conception-web/) - **Case study:** [Sabbya](https://socialinfluencebuilder.com/en/sabbya/) - **Glossary:** [Digital marketing glossary: Indexing](https://socialinfluencebuilder.com/en/glossary/#indexation)