Build a Website URL Inventory
Create the master list that drives content decisions, redirect mapping and post-migration QA.
Combine multiple URL sources
A crawler shows what can be reached through links today, but it may miss orphan pages. Add sitemap URLs, analytics landing pages, Search Console pages, database records and inbound-link reports where available.
Add decision columns
Useful columns include old URL, page type, traffic importance, backlinks, content owner, status, new URL, redirect required, title preserved, media checked and QA result. The inventory becomes the migration control sheet.
Mark duplicates and variants
HTTP/HTTPS, www/non-www, trailing slashes, uppercase paths, index files and query-string versions can make one page appear as several URLs. Determine which version was canonical before you create new redirect logic.
Separate discovery from deletion
Do not delete as you inventory. Capture first, decide second. That order prevents an enthusiastic cleanup from destroying evidence you later need for mapping or recovery.
Reuse the inventory after launch
The same sheet can become the post-launch crawl checklist. Verify that kept URLs return 200, redirected URLs land once on the intended destination and retired low-value URLs behave as planned.
Add ownership and review status
For larger migrations, assign a content owner or reviewer to important groups of URLs. This makes it clear who can approve merging or retiring content and reduces the risk of technical teams making business decisions from traffic numbers alone.
Record the last known live state
Capture status code, canonical URL, title, H1 and indexability before migration. Those fields become a useful baseline when the replacement is crawled. Differences are then intentional decisions or QA issues rather than mysteries.