Old page addresses: why forwarding them matters

When a page on your website moves to a new address, a redirect sends anyone who visits the old address straight to the new one. The kind you want is called a 301, which means "moved permanently". It works like mail forwarding from the post office: people who use the old address still reach you, and Google learns where the page went and carries over what it knew about it. Without redirects, old addresses lead to an error page, and customers and Google both hit a dead end.

What a page address is, and why yours will change

Every page on your site has its own address, the part after your domain: yourbusiness.com/kitchen-remodeling or yourbusiness.com/services.html. These addresses get saved and shared in many places you do not control:

• Google's index, which shows those exact addresses in search results.
• Customers' bookmarks.
• Links from other sites: a directory, a supplier, a local news story, a forum post where someone recommended you.
• Printed material: flyers, business cards, QR codes, truck signs.
• Old emails and texts you sent customers.

When you get a new website, redesign your menu or change builders, addresses often change even when the page is "the same". /services.html becomes /services. /kitchen-remodeling becomes /services/kitchens. Every place above still uses the old address.

What happens without a redirect

Someone clicks an old link and gets a "page not found" error, also called a 404. Most people do not hunt around; they go back and click the next business.

For Google, an address that returns "not found" for a while is treated as a page that is gone. Google eventually drops it from its results. The new page at the new address is a stranger to Google and has to be discovered and judged from scratch. The history the old page had built up, like the links pointing to it, does not pass on by itself.

What a 301 redirect does

A 301 redirect is an instruction on your website that says: "This page has moved permanently. The new address is ___." When a browser or Google asks for the old address, the site answers with that instruction, and the browser jumps to the new page, usually so fast the visitor does not notice.

For Google, a 301 means: treat the new address as the replacement for the old one. Over time, Google swaps the old address for the new one in its results and passes along what it knew about the old page.

301 vs 302

You may see another kind, a 302, which means "moved temporarily". It tells Google the old address will be back, so Google may keep the old one. For a new website, use 301. Some builders label these "permanent" and "temporary" rather than by number.

One-to-one, not everything to the home page

The most common shortcut is forwarding every old address to the new home page. It avoids error pages, but it throws away most of the value:

• A customer who clicked a link about roof repair lands on a general home page and has to start over.
• Google sees many different pages all pointing at one page that does not match them, and often treats those forwards as if the pages were simply gone.

Instead, send each old page to the new page that covers the same thing:

• /roof-repair.html → /roof-repair
• /about-us.php → /about
• /services/gutters → /gutters
• /blog/2018/ice-dams → /blog/ice-dams

For a page you are dropping entirely, forward it to the closest relevant page: an old "spring special" page to your current services page, a discontinued service to the nearest service you still offer.

How to make a list of your old addresses

Do this while the old site is still live:

1. Open your sitemap: type your domain followed by /sitemap.xml into a browser. Copy every address.
2. Do a site: search on Google: site:yourbusiness.com. Note any addresses not in the sitemap.
3. Check Search Console, if you have it. The Performance report's Pages tab lists the addresses Google sent visitors to.
4. Click through the old menu and footer to catch anything missing.
5. Think of print: QR codes and short addresses printed on flyers or vehicles.

Put them in a two-column list: old address, new address.

Where redirects are set up

Redirects are set on whatever is answering for your domain after the switch, which is your new site, not your old one:

• Website builders usually have a redirects or URL mapping section in their settings or SEO settings.
• WordPress sites typically use a redirect plugin or the hosting company's settings.
• Some hosts use a redirects file or settings panel.

Whoever builds your new site should set them up. Ask to see the list. If you changed domain as well, that is a bigger move with its own steps: changing your domain name without losing Google.

How to test your redirects

You do not need special tools. After the new site is live:

1. Take ten old addresses from your list, including your top pages from Google.
2. Type each one into your browser's address bar, or paste it, and press Enter.
3. Watch the address bar. It should change to the new address, and the page should be the matching one.
4. Try the same on your phone.
5. Watch out for chains, where an address forwards to another address that forwards again. One hop is best.

Over the following weeks, Search Console's Pages report will show any address Google tried that came up "Not found". Each one is a redirect still missing. Broken links on your website and how to find them covers finding the rest.

How long to keep them

Keep redirects for as long as you have the domain. Google may update its index within weeks or months, but bookmarks, printed flyers and links on other sites last for years. Removing redirects after a year saves nothing and starts the errors again.

A friendly not-found page for what slips through

Even with care, someone will eventually type a wrong address. A good not-found page with your phone number, a search or menu, and a link to your main services catches them. What happens when a page isn't found shows what to put there.

What to do this week

• Write down your current site's page addresses from the sitemap and a site: search.
• Mark the ten that matter most, using Search Console if you have it.
• If you are planning a new site, ask whoever builds it how each old address will be forwarded.
• If you already switched, test ten old addresses on your phone today.

On a SiteSmith rebuild the old addresses are carried over and forwarded, and you can see your site rebuilt first and type in your own old addresses to check them before anything changes.