網站重新設計前，先建立重新導向對照表

A website redesign can improve navigation, readability and conversion paths, but it can also break years of accumulated links in one afternoon. The risk is not the new visual design itself. The risk appears when old URLs disappear, change meaning or point visitors to a generic page without a plan.

A redirect map is the handover document that connects every important old URL to its best new destination. Build it before launch, not after customers and search engines begin finding errors.

Start with an inventory of real URLs

Do not create the map from the new sitemap alone. Collect URLs from the existing XML sitemap, analytics landing pages, Search Console landing pages, internal links, campaign links, downloadable files and any high-value external references you know about.

For each old URL, record:

1. The current URL and page purpose.
2. The most relevant new destination.
3. The redirect decision and HTTP status.
4. The content owner responsible for approving the match.
5. Important internal links that must be updated.
6. A post-launch verification result.

This inventory often reveals pages that are missing from the redesign brief: old service pages that still receive enquiries, event pages referenced from social profiles, PDFs used by customers, or campaign landing pages linked from third-party websites.

Match intent, not just keywords

The best redirect preserves the visitor's reason for clicking. An old page about restaurant social-media management should go to the closest current service resource, not automatically to the homepage. A retired event page may need a current events page, an archive, or a clear replacement rather than an unrelated service page.

Use four practical decisions:

• Keep: The URL and purpose remain valid.
• Redirect: A clearly equivalent or better destination exists.
• Consolidate: Several overlapping pages become one stronger resource.
• Retire: No useful replacement exists; return an honest response instead of creating a misleading redirect.

Avoid sending every removed URL to the homepage. That hides the real information gap, creates a poor customer journey and makes verification harder.

Choose the correct response

A permanent move normally uses a server-side 301 redirect. A genuinely temporary move may use 302 or 307, depending on the application and method-preservation requirements. Do not use a client-side script or delayed meta refresh when the server or hosting layer can return the intended redirect directly.

Developers should also prevent redirect chains. If /old-service redirects to /services, and /services then redirects to /services/social-media, update the first rule to point directly to the final URL.

Example redirect map entry:

Old: /social-media-packages
New: /social-media.html
Status: 301
Owner: Marketing
Reason: Current equivalent service page
Verified: final response 200, one hop, CTA works

The syntax used to implement the rule will depend on the server, framework, CDN or hosting platform. The mapping decision should remain independent of that syntax so it can be reviewed by both content and development teams.

Update internal links at the source

A redirect is a safety net, not a substitute for maintenance. Update navigation, body links, buttons, canonical tags, structured data, XML sitemaps and campaign templates to use the final URLs directly.

Check business-profile links, social profile links, video descriptions and frequently reused campaign templates as well. These sources can continue sending visitors through old routes long after the redesign launches.

Test the complete path before launch

For every priority mapping, verify:

• The old URL returns the intended redirect status.
• The Location header points to the correct final destination.
• The path reaches the destination in one hop where practical.
• The final page returns 200, is indexable when intended and uses the correct canonical URL.
• The page still satisfies the original visitor intent.
• Important calls to action, forms, phone links and downloads work on mobile.
• Analytics and conversion measurement remain present where configured.

Test a representative sample in the staging environment, then retest the full priority list immediately after launch. Keep the map as evidence rather than deleting it when the launch is complete.

Monitor the first weeks after launch

Watch for unexpected 404 responses, landing-page drops, new redirect chains and referral traffic reaching obsolete URLs. Search Console and analytics data can help identify missed routes, but they should complement server logs and crawl checks rather than replace them.

Prioritise fixes by business impact: broken enquiry paths and high-value landing pages come before low-use archive URLs. Record every correction in the redirect map so the live configuration and the handover document stay aligned.

A useful redesign handover

A redesign is not complete when the new homepage looks finished. It is complete when customers, search engines, campaigns and external references can still reach the right information.

Design Den Solutions plans maintainable website journeys as part of its web development services.

Prepared with AI assistance and reviewed for usefulness and technical accuracy by Design Den Solutions. The accompanying visual is a conceptual AI-generated illustration; the official Design Den Solutions logo is composited unchanged.