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Handling URL Changes During Site Moves

How to Move a Site with Minimal Impact on Google Search

This document provides a comprehensive guide on how to change the URLs of existing pages on your site while minimizing any negative impact on your Google Search results.

This document is relevant for site moves such as:

  • Protocol changes: Migrating from HTTP to HTTPS.

  • Domain name changes: Switching from example.com to example.net, or consolidating multiple domains or subdomains.

  • URL path changes: Changing URL structure, for example, from example.com/page.php?id=1 to example.com/widget, or example.com/page.html to example.com/page.htm.

Note: If you are only making infrastructure changes, such as changing your hosting provider, without changing URLs, refer to our guide on infrastructure changes.

Overview

This guide covers:

  1. General Best Practices: Understand the process, potential impact, and how to minimize disruption. For HTTP to HTTPS migrations, review the HTTPS best practices.

  2. Preparation is Key: Thoroughly prepare your new site, test it, and create a detailed URL mapping between old and new URLs.

  3. Execution: Initiate the move by setting up server-side redirects from old URLs to their new counterparts.

  4. Monitoring: Closely observe traffic on both old and new URLs throughout the process.

General Best Practices for Site Moves

1. Consider a Phased Approach

If your site is large and your infrastructure allows, consider a phased migration:

  • Test Phase: Move a small, less dynamic section of your site first to assess the impact on traffic and indexing.

  • Rollout: After the test phase, you can migrate the remaining sections either all at once or in manageable chunks.

Example: If you have a news website, start by moving a section with archived content instead of the breaking news section.

Note: While a phased approach helps with testing, a full site move might present different challenges.

2. One Change at a Time

Implement changes sequentially, not concurrently. For example, if you are moving to a new domain, changing your CMS, and redesigning your site, handle these changes in separate stages.

3. Strategically Time Your Move

If possible, schedule the move during periods of low traffic. This minimizes user disruption and allows your server resources to focus on Googlebot crawling.

4. Expect Temporary Ranking Fluctuations

Anticipate temporary fluctuations in search rankings during and after the move as Google recrawls and reindexes your site. Larger sites might take longer to be fully processed.

5. Utilize Sitemaps for Faster Indexing

Submit a sitemap of your new URLs through Search Console to expedite the discovery and indexing process by Google.

6. Redirects Preserve Link Equity

Rest assured, using 301, 302, or other server-side redirects will not negatively impact your PageRank.

7. Leverage Search Console

Search Console is an invaluable tool throughout the migration process:

  • Verification: Verify both old and new site versions (including www/non-www and HTTP/HTTPS variants) in Search Console.

  • Index Status: Monitor the index status of your old and new URLs.

  • Sitemaps: Track the indexing progress of your new sitemap.

8. Patience is Crucial

Allow sufficient time for Googlebot to crawl and index all the new URLs on your site. This duration depends on factors like your site size and server speed.

Preparing the New Site

1. Content Migration

  • Configure your CMS on the new site (ideally the same CMS used on the old site).

  • Import all content from the old site to the new site, ensuring all data and functionality are correctly transferred.

2. Asset Transfer

  • Move all images, videos, and downloads (like PDFs) to the new site, ensuring their URLs are updated accordingly.

3. HTTPS Setup (If Applicable)

  • Obtain and install the necessary TLS certificates on your server for a secure HTTPS connection.

4. Robots.txt Configuration

  • Create or update your robots.txt file on the new site to control crawler access.

  • Ensure rules accurately reflect the sections you want to allow or block.

Example robots.txt Entry:

User-agent: *
Disallow: /private-area/

5. Handling Removed or Merged Content

  • Implement proper HTTP 404 (Not Found) or 410 (Gone) status codes for URLs of content not migrated to the new site.

6. Search Console Settings Review

  • Verification: Ensure your Search Console verification method will continue to work after the migration.

  • Crawl Rate: Set the crawl rate to "Let Googlebot determine" for both the old and new sites.

  • Disavowed Backlinks: If you have a disavow file for the old site, re-upload it to the new site's Search Console account.

7. New Domain Cleanup (If Applicable)

  • If you are moving to a new domain, address any pre-existing issues:

    • Manual Actions: Resolve any manual actions against the domain and submit a reconsideration request if necessary.

    • URL Removals: Ensure no unwarranted URL removals (especially site-wide removals) are in place.

8. Web Analytics Setup

  • Set up web analytics tracking on the new site to monitor traffic and user behavior.

  • Consider creating a new profile in your analytics platform for the new site to maintain data separation.

9. Server Capacity

  • Ensure your server has adequate resources to handle the increased traffic during and after the migration, especially from Googlebot.

Preparing URL Mapping

Accurate URL mapping between your old and new site is critical for seamless redirection.

1. Determine Your Old URLs

  • Check Essential Sources:

    • Sitemaps

    • Server logs

    • Analytics data

    • Search Console's "Links to Your Site" report

    • Your CMS

  • Prioritize Important URLs: Focus on pages with significant traffic or backlinks.

  • Include All Content Types: Don't forget images, videos, scripts, and stylesheets.

2. Define the Mapping:

  • Create a comprehensive list that pairs each old URL with its corresponding new URL.

  • Decide on a storage method for this mapping (e.g., spreadsheet, database) that suits your needs.

3. Update URL References on the New Site:

  • Canonical Tags: Ensure each new page has a self-referencing rel="canonical" tag pointing to its correct new URL.

    <link rel="canonical" href="https://www.example.net/new-page/" />

  • hreflang Annotations: If you use rel="alternate" hreflang="x" for multilingual or multi-regional content, update these annotations with the new URLs.

  • Internal Links: Thoroughly replace all internal links on the new site to point to the new URLs, utilizing the mapping you created.

4. Prepare for the Final Move:

  • Create a sitemap file containing all the new URLs from your mapping.

  • Compile a list of websites linking to your old URLs (refer to Search Console's "Links to Your Site" report). This list will be helpful for outreach later.

Planning Your Redirect Strategy

1. Server-Side 301 Redirects: The Gold Standard

Utilize server-side 301 (Permanent) redirects to direct traffic from old URLs to their new counterparts based on your mapping.

  • Consult your server administrator or hosting provider on how to implement these redirects within your server environment (e.g., .htaccess file for Apache servers).

2. Client-Side Redirects (Last Resort)

If server-side redirects are not feasible, use client-side redirects as a last resort, but understand their limitations.

3. Avoid Redirect Chains

Minimize redirect chains where possible (e.g., Page 1 > Page 2 > Page 3). Ideally, redirect directly to the final destination. If unavoidable, keep the chain as short as possible (no more than 3 redirects).

4. Choosing a Migration Approach:

  • Small to Medium Sites: Move all URLs simultaneously for a smoother user experience and faster index update.

  • Large Sites: Consider a phased approach, migrating sections at a time to manage complexity and facilitate easier monitoring and troubleshooting.

Starting the Site Move

1. Activate Your Redirects

  • Implement your chosen redirect method (server-side or client-side).

  • Ensure redirects are working correctly by spot-checking several URLs.

2. Avoid Irrelevant Redirects

  • Do not redirect multiple old URLs to a single irrelevant page (e.g., the homepage) as this can confuse users and be interpreted as soft 404 errors.

  • However, redirecting multiple old URLs to a new consolidated page that combines their content is acceptable.

3. Final Checks on the New Site

  • Canonical Tags: Double-check that all canonical tags on the new site point to the new URLs.

  • Robots Meta Tags: Remove any temporary noindex rules added to prevent premature indexing during the migration.

4. Test Thoroughly

  • Test a representative sample of redirects using tools like the URL Inspection Tool or command-line utilities.

  • Ensure redirects are working as expected and no unintended errors are occurring.

5. Submit a Change of Address in Search Console (If Applicable)

  • For domain name changes, but NOT for HTTP to HTTPS migrations, submit a "Change of Address" request in Search Console for the old site.

6. Maintain Redirects

  • Keep redirects in place for at least one year to allow Google ample time to process the changes and transfer link equity.

  • For a better user experience, consider maintaining redirects indefinitely, but prioritize updating your most important links to point directly to the new URLs.

7. Submit New Sitemap

  • Submit your sitemap containing all the new URLs to Search Console to speed up the discovery and indexing process. You can now remove the old sitemap.

Updating Links

1. Internal Links:

  • Using your URL mapping, systematically replace all internal links on the new site to point to the new URLs.

2. External Links:

  • Contact website owners linking to your old content (using the list you compiled earlier) and request they update their links to point to the new URLs.

  • Prioritize outreach based on the traffic volume generated by each link.

3. Profile and Social Media Links:

  • Update links in your profiles on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.

4. Paid Advertising Campaigns:

  • Ensure all URLs in your ad campaigns are updated to direct users to the correct landing pages on your new site.

Monitoring Traffic

Closely observe traffic patterns on both the old and new sites to ensure a smooth transition:

1. Search Console:

  • Sitemaps Report: Monitor the indexing progress of both your old and new sitemaps.

  • Index Coverage Report: Track the number of indexed pages on both sites and look for unexpected crawl errors.

  • Performance Report: Observe changes in search queries and click-through rates as the new site gets indexed and starts ranking.

2. Server Logs:

  • Analyze server logs for crawling patterns, error codes, and user traffic trends.

3. Web Analytics:

  • Utilize your web analytics platform to monitor traffic changes and user behavior on both sites.

  • Look for a consistent decline in traffic on the old site and a corresponding increase on the new site.

4. Be Proactive:

  • Investigate and address any unexpected drops or unusual patterns in traffic promptly.

Troubleshooting Your Site Move

Here are some common pitfalls to avoid and solutions to address them:

1. Accidental Blocking:

Problem: Forgetting to remove temporary noindex directives in robots meta tags or overly restrictive rules in your robots.txt file.

Solution:

  • Thoroughly review your robots.txt file and remove or adjust any rules that unintentionally block Googlebot from accessing important sections of your new site.

  • Use the URL Inspection Tool to check individual pages for noindex directives and remove them where necessary.

2. Redirect Errors:

Problem: Redirecting users to incorrect or non-existent URLs on the new site.

Solution:

  • Systematically review your redirects and test them using tools like the URL Inspection Tool or website crawlers like Screaming Frog.

  • Check your server logs for a high volume of 404 errors, which can indicate redirect problems.

3. Crawl Errors:

Problem: A surge in various crawl errors on the new site after the migration.

Solution:

  • Use Search Console's Index Coverage report to identify specific crawl errors.

  • Investigate and address the underlying causes of these errors, such as broken links, incorrect canonical tags, or server issues.

4. Server Overload:

Problem: The new server cannot handle the increased traffic load, especially from Googlebot, resulting in slow loading times or server errors.

Solution:

  • Ensure your new server has sufficient resources (CPU, RAM, bandwidth) to handle the expected traffic.

  • Optimize your website for speed and performance to reduce server load.

  • Consider implementing caching mechanisms or using a content delivery network (CDN).

5. Outdated Sitemaps:

Problem: Failing to update your sitemaps with the new URLs, hindering Google's ability to discover and index your new content efficiently.

Solution:

  • Generate a new sitemap that includes all the new URLs on your site and submit it through Search Console.

  • Remove any outdated sitemaps to avoid confusion.

Remember: Patience is key during a site migration. It takes time for Google to fully process the changes and for your new site to achieve its full ranking potential. Monitor progress closely, address any issues promptly, and your site should successfully navigate the transition.

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