Build the redirect list before the redesign launch

A redesign often changes the navigation before anyone records the existing URLs. Customers then follow old search results, proposals or bookmarks into an error page. Make the old-address list an early deliverable, not a launch-day task.

Find the URLs people use

Combine the current sitemap, important analytics landing pages, navigation links and known campaign addresses. Include language branches. An English service URL and its Colombian Spanish counterpart may need different new destinations even when their file names look similar.

Choose a relevant destination

For each old page, identify the closest replacement by purpose. A retired quotation guide should lead to a useful equivalent where one exists. Sending unrelated old pages to the homepage makes visitors start over and can conceal missing content.

Test the whole journey

Check the old URL, redirect response and final page. The final address should load directly with the intended language, title and canonical. Include trailing-slash and index-file versions if they have been public. A rule that works in a development server may behave differently under production routing.

Google's site-move guidance recommends mapping old URLs and testing redirects. That is technical guidance, not a promise of preserved rankings. Keep the list with the release plan and review it after launch. A migration review can be commissioned separately from the visual redesign.