301 Redirect Mapping for Website Migrations
Plan old-to-new URL destinations before launch so a redesign does not casually discard useful paths and inbound links.
Map by intent, not convenience
An old airport-service page should redirect to the closest new airport-service resource, not automatically to the homepage. Redirects preserve user intent best when the destination meaningfully replaces the old content.
Avoid redirect chains
Map old URLs directly to the final destination. Chains add latency and make troubleshooting harder. They also accumulate when migrations are performed repeatedly without consolidating earlier rules.
Do not redirect everything
A truly useless or malicious URL does not need a homepage redirect. Mass irrelevant redirects can confuse users and search engines. Preserve value where value exists, and retire genuine junk cleanly.
Test both status and destination
A browser landing on the right page does not prove the redirect is correct. Verify HTTP status codes, chain length, canonical target and whether query parameters need to be preserved.
Keep the map as migration documentation
Store the final redirect map with the project archive. Future teams can then understand why old paths behave as they do instead of treating the redirect file as mysterious server debris.
Preserve query parameters only when they matter
Some old systems use query parameters for campaign tracking, language, product IDs or functional filters. Decide whether the destination needs those values. Blindly carrying every parameter forward can create duplicate URLs; dropping a meaningful identifier can break user intent.
Separate canonical redirects from cleanup redirects
Host/protocol normalization, trailing-slash rules and page migrations solve different problems. Document them separately so one broad rule does not accidentally override specific page mappings. The final server configuration can still combine them efficiently once the logic is clear.