Redesigning a contractor website without losing links

The short version

1. List every page on the current site.
2. For each, decide: keep, merge into another page, or retire.
3. Map every kept or merged page's old address to its new address in a spreadsheet.
4. Set up permanent server redirects from old to new, one step each.
5. On launch day, test every old address.
6. Keep the redirects in place for years, not weeks.

Why redirects matter

Every page on your current site has an address. Some of those addresses are linked from other websites, saved in people's bookmarks, printed on quotes or business cards, or already known to search engines. If a redesign changes the addresses and does nothing about the old ones, all of those lead to a not found error.

Google's guidance on site moves with URL changes is the clearest public reference for doing this properly. It says to map old addresses to new ones, to use permanent server-side redirects such as 301 or 308 where possible, and to keep redirects in place for as long as possible, generally at least one year. It also notes that permanent redirects do not cause a loss of PageRank.

Step 1: list every page

Start with a spreadsheet. Collect every address on the current site from:

• the site's own sitemap, if it has one
• a crawl of the site with a free crawler tool
• Search Console's pages report, which shows pages Google knows about
• your own memory of pages that may not be linked anywhere, such as an old promotion

For each address, note its title, what it is about, and whether people still arrive on it, if you can tell.

Step 2: keep, merge or retire

Go through the list and decide each page's future:

• Keep. A page with content that still matters, such as a service you still offer or a project you are proud of. It gets a new address on the new site, which may be the same as the old one.
• Merge. Several thin pages on the same subject become one stronger page. All the old addresses redirect to the new page.
• Retire. A page with no useful content and no sensible replacement, such as a long-expired special offer. It returns a proper not found response.

Resist redirecting retired pages to the home page. A visitor who clicked a link about roof repairs and lands on a generic home page has not been helped.

Step 3: the redirect map

The redirect map is a two-column spreadsheet: old address on the left, new address on the right. Every kept or merged page appears once. Keep this file after launch; if an old link turns up in a few years, it tells you where it should go.

Check the map for chains. If an old address points to a page that itself redirects, change it to point straight to the final address. Each redirect should take one step.

Step 4: build the new site with the map in mind

Choosing clear addresses for the new site saves trouble later. Google's starter guide suggests descriptive URLs that help people understand the page. /services/roof-repairs/ says more than /page?id=27. Pick a pattern and stick to it, because every future change of address needs another redirect.

Build the new site so that phone and desktop show the same content, structured data and image alt text, since Google indexes the mobile version.

Step 5: launch day

On launch day:

1. Put the new site live.
2. Make sure the redirects are active on the server.
3. Request every old address on the map and confirm each one lands on the right new page, in one step, with a permanent redirect status.
4. Check that no page is accidentally set to noindex or blocked in robots.txt. If the new site was blocked from search engines while it was being built, make sure that block did not come across.
5. Submit the new sitemap in Search Console.
6. Click through the main pages looking for broken links and missing images.

Step 6: after launch

Google's guidance says that a site may see its visibility fluctuate while it is recrawled and reindexed. That is a normal part of a move. Watch Search Console for not found errors on old addresses you missed, and add redirects for them.

Do not remove redirects once things settle. Links to old addresses can turn up years later.

Things that go wrong

• Development site blocking left in place. A robots.txt or noindex setting copied from a test site can hide the new site entirely.
• Changing the domain at the same time. Possible, but it adds a layer of risk. If you can, change the design first and the domain later, or plan both carefully.
• Redirecting everything to the home page. Convenient for whoever sets it up, unhelpful for everyone else.
• Losing project pages. Projects are your evidence. Make sure every one that still represents your work moves across.
• Forgetting the quote form. Test that it still sends to the right inbox on the new site.