Redirect planning
Every URL gets a decision, not a guess
Sorting URLs by value before mapping them prevents the two most common redirect mistakes.- PullCombine every URL source
Sitemap, crawl, Search Console, and backlinks together.
- ScoreRank by traffic and value
Decides 1:1 redirects from safe-to-merge pages.
- MapAssign a specific destination
Never a blanket redirect to the homepage.
- BuildSet rules without chains
One hop per redirect, checked for loops.
- VerifyTest before DNS changes
Status codes and destinations confirmed first.
Pull every URL worth tracking, not just the sitemap
A current XML sitemap is a starting point, not a complete list. Combine it with a full crawl of the live site, since orphaned pages with real traffic or backlinks often sit outside the sitemap entirely.
Add Google Search Console's indexed and top-performing URLs, Google Analytics' top landing pages, and any known backlinks or campaign URLs from paid traffic. Each source tends to surface pages the others miss.
- Current XML sitemap exported
- Full crawl of the live site completed
- Search Console indexed and top-performing URLs pulled
- Known backlinks and campaign URLs added to the list
Score each URL by what it would cost to lose
Rank every URL by organic traffic, backlink presence, and its role in conversions. This score is what separates pages that need a careful one-to-one redirect from pages that can simply be merged or dropped.
Freshness matters too. A page with strong historical traffic that has not been updated in years may still be worth preserving, while a near-duplicate of a stronger page usually is not.
- Organic traffic per URL recorded
- Backlink count or quality noted where available
- Conversion-relevant pages flagged, including forms and pricing pages
- Low-value or duplicate URLs identified for consolidation
Map every URL to its closest Webflow destination
The goal is a one-to-one match wherever a direct successor exists. When a page genuinely has no replacement, send it to the closest topically relevant page rather than the homepage by default.
Have someone who actually knows the old site review the finished map. Redirect mistakes are easy to miss from a spreadsheet alone, especially for pages with ambiguous or outdated titles.
- Every high-value URL mapped to a specific destination
- Blanket homepage redirects avoided wherever possible
- Merged or removed pages assigned their best replacement
- Redirect map reviewed by someone familiar with the old site
Build the rules in Webflow and avoid chains
Enter the finished map as 301 redirects in Webflow's redirect settings. Reserve wildcard or pattern-based redirects for genuinely repetitive URL structures rather than using them as a shortcut for individual mapping decisions.
Check the full set for chains, where one redirect points to another redirect instead of the final destination, and for loops. Both waste crawl budget and slow down real visitors who follow the old link.
- 301 redirects entered in Webflow's redirect settings
- No redirect chains longer than one hop
- No redirect loops
- Wildcard or pattern redirects used only where genuinely needed
Test before DNS changes, then monitor after launch
Test every redirect against the new site before the domain actually changes, confirming both the destination and the status code returned. A redirect that silently resolves to a 200 instead of a 301 does not pass the same signal.
After launch, watch Search Console for 404 and redirect reports during the following weeks. Match any new 404s back to the original URL list and add the missing redirect while the cause is still obvious.
- Every redirect tested for correct destination and status code
- Redirect tests run before DNS is changed
- Indexing and 404 reports monitored for the weeks after launch
- New 404s matched back to the original URL list and fixed