Fix SEO Errors with Relaunch and Migration Remnants

Example: Old URLs are redirected to inappropriate new pages

In a relaunch, a general forwarding rule can send all old product or service addresses to the homepage. Technically, a part of the 404 messages disappears, but for visitors, the expected content is lost. A suitable target allocation is more important than the smallest possible number of errors.

Finding the triggering point

Create a URL list from old crawl, sitemap and important external entries. Add the technically appropriate new page to each relevant old address. Also check PDFs, images and deep editorial links if they have stand-alone accesses or references.

Checking a limited fix

Set up unique redirects for real matches and update internal links directly to the new destinations. For remote content without a replacement, a traceable error response is often more useful than any redirect. Also, test canonicals, sitemaps, and language references for remaining old addresses.

Check the assignment before starting and again on the public domain. Then watch not only the homepage, but the most important earlier landing pages. Separate technical delivery errors from time-delayed processing by search engines.