Inspect the customer’s path
Export or record current canonical URLs, important landing pages, internal links, titles, indexed-page observations and available search data. Identify forms, telephone links, downloads and tracking dependencies. Keep a rollback target and an owner for launch decisions. A visual redesign can affect search and contact behavior even when the domain stays the same.
A worked example
Fictional URL map: /flatbed-service becomes /services/vehicle-transport because the content genuinely moves; /contact keeps its purpose and URL; an obsolete promotion has no equivalent. The moved service should map to its relevant replacement. Redirecting every removed URL to the homepage would conceal different user intentions and can create confusing results.
Choose the next action
Preserve stable URLs where practical. For real moves, implement appropriate redirects and update internal links, canonicals and sitemap entries consistently. Keep drafts and private utility routes out of public navigation. Consult current Google migration guidance for the specific move; do not promise that search visibility will be unchanged immediately after release.
Check whether it worked
Crawl the new production site, verify the old-to-new mappings and inspect important pages on mobile. Check the canonical domain, status codes, indexing directives and forms. Compare Search Console observations over time with the launch date marked. If a material contact regression appears, use the documented rollback process while investigating.
Put it to work
A record you can use
- Existing canonical inventory
- Keep, move or retire decision
- Relevant destination and redirect
- Launch acceptance evidence
- Rollback target and postlaunch review
Plain text. No email required. Store completed records in your approved business systems.
Next useful step
Need help applying this to your marketing? A strategy call starts with your business and the evidence you have.
Talk through your next step →For a general editorial question, email Chris. Please leave out customer details. Questions are private, and no response time is promised.