In this guide
  1. Build the old inventory from several records
  2. Separate retain, consolidate and retire decisions
  3. Add acceptance conditions to the mapping
  4. Example: consolidating twenty articles into three guides
  5. Track exceptions after release

Build the old inventory from several records

Combine the CMS or publication inventory with sitemaps and relevant access records. One crawl can miss an important page no longer linked in navigation. Consider necessary images and other public assets as well as articles. Retain purpose and useful referring context so the next step can decide what deserves a destination, rather than treating an arbitrary crawl export as a complete migration specification.

Separate retain, consolidate and retire decisions

Distinguish moving an answer, consolidating several answers and retiring a page’s role. Sending everything to the home page can fail the original reader question. Assign somebody to inspect substance and choose a relevant destination. Keep undecided mappings visible instead of hiding them behind a blanket rule whose technical success would not demonstrate a useful migration.

Add acceptance conditions to the mapping

Record old URL, destination, treatment, owner, referring source and validation status. Where using redirects, verify the intended final content rather than only an intermediate response. Align the new page’s preferred URL and internal links. Completion should demonstrate preservation of the useful answer, not merely that a request can eventually open some public page.

Example: consolidating twenty articles into three guides

For an illustrative consolidation of twenty articles into three guides, map the question each article answered to a relevant part of its destination. Similar titles are insufficient. A missing answer may require enriching the destination or reconsidering treatment. After release, follow the old paths and verify language and meaning as well as final responses. This is a planning exercise, not a guarantee of preserved search positions.

Track exceptions after release

After representative checks, assign remaining URLs and exceptions. Follow search-side observations separately from functional acceptance and avoid declaring success or failure from an immediate position fluctuation alone. Plan when old resources and evidence may be retired. Leave the mapping and test results understandable to a new owner instead of allowing migration knowledge to disappear with the person who built the redirect rules.

Official sources

Pricing, availability and feature limits can change. Check the linked official pages before subscribing.

How we compareAdvertising disclosure