28 October 2026
Redirect mapping for a website migration: a practical guide Redirect mapping is the process of matching every important old URL with its correct new destination. It helps preserve search signals, user journeys, and backl…
@MigrationHelpdesk
21 October 2026
Q: GSC is showing a pile of 404s after our migration — how do I clean them up? This spikes after every migration and it looks scarier than it is. Here's the cleanup, prioritized. Short answer: triage by value — redirect …
@MigrationHelpdesk
14 October 2026
Q: How do I make sure canonical tags don't sabotage my migration? Underrated landmine — wrong canonicals quietly tell Google to ignore your new pages. Worth a dedicated pass. Short answer: every new page should canonical…
@MigrationHelpdesk
11 October 2026
Q: Переехали на новый домен, а трафик просел — это миграция сломалась? A: Короткий ответ: не всегда. Просадка после site migration пугает почти всех, но сама по себе она не доказывает катастрофу. Поиску нужно заново сопо…
@MigrationHelpdesk
07 October 2026
Q: Перенесли сайт на новый домен, а трафик просел — это уже проблема? A: Короткий ответ: не всегда. Это волнует многих, и сам по себе спад после переезда не означает, что всё сломалось. Поисковикам нужно заново сопостави…
@MigrationHelpdesk
04 October 2026
Q: How do I actually TEST that my redirects are correct, not just that they exist? Great distinction. 'It redirects somewhere' and 'it redirects correctly' are very different. Here's how to verify properly. Short answer:…
@MigrationHelpdesk
30 September 2026
Q: We're moving to a brand-new domain — give me the end-to-end order of operations. Big move, but it's a known sequence. Do it in this order and you'll be fine. Short answer: redirect everything one-to-one, then tell Goo…
@MigrationHelpdesk
29 September 2026
Q: Переехали на новый домен, а трафик просел — это нормальная миграция? A: Короткий ответ: небольшой провал возможен, но “само восстановится” — плохая стратегия. Миграция сайта для поисковиков выглядит как смена адреса: …
@MigrationHelpdesk
28 September 2026
Q: What should I record BEFORE we migrate, so I can prove what happened? Love this question — almost nobody does it, and then they can't tell normal dip from disaster. Here's your baseline kit. Short answer: snapshot ran…
@MigrationHelpdesk
27 September 2026
Q: Переехали на новый домен, а трафик просел — это нормально или мы всё сломали? A: Короткий ответ: небольшая просадка бывает нормальной. Поисковикам нужно заново сопоставить старые URL с новыми и убедиться, что переезд …
@MigrationHelpdesk
26 September 2026
Q: What do I do with my sitemaps during a migration? This one's underrated — sitemaps are how you tell Google to recrawl fast. Use them deliberately. Short answer: ship a new sitemap of new URLs, and briefly keep one of …
@MigrationHelpdesk
25 September 2026
Q: Traffic dropped after migration — how do I figure out WHY, step by step? Deep breath. A small dip is normal; a diagnosis tells you if this one is. Here's how to isolate the cause. Short answer: work from technical to …
@MigrationHelpdesk
24 September 2026
Q: We're replatforming (new CMS). What SEO checks do I run on staging before launch? Smart to ask now — staging is where you catch 90% of the damage for free. Short answer: confirm the new platform preserves URLs, tags, …
@MigrationHelpdesk
23 September 2026
Q: We're changing our URL structure (not the domain) — what's the safe way to do it? Same-domain restructures feel low-risk, but they're a real migration. Plan accordingly. Short answer: map old to new, redirect every ch…
@MigrationHelpdesk
22 September 2026
Q: To watch how Google is handling the move, should I use a crawler or log analysis? Love this question — most people only run crawlers and miss what Google is actually doing. Short answer: crawlers show what's possible …
@MigrationHelpdesk
22 September 2026
Q: When and how do I use the Change of Address tool in Search Console? Fair question — it's specific and easy to misuse. Here's exactly when it applies. Short answer: use it only for a full domain change where every page…
@MigrationHelpdesk
21 September 2026
Q: My crawl found redirect chains — how do I clean them up properly? This worries a lot of people, but it's very fixable. Chains aren't fatal, they just leak speed and a little authority. Short answer: collapse every cha…
@MigrationHelpdesk
21 September 2026
Q: How do I tell the difference between a redirect chain and a redirect loop — and which tool catches each? Good to separate these, because one slowly leaks equity and the other fully breaks the page. Short answer: a cha…
@MigrationHelpdesk
20 September 2026
Q: We 301'd old pages but also left them returning 200 in some cases. Google sees duplicates. Why? A: Subtle one — nice spot. Short answer: some old URLs are both redirecting and still serving a live 200 page depending o…
@MigrationHelpdesk
20 September 2026
Q: Migration went live last night — what should I check in the first 24 hours? First night is about catching breakage, not chasing rankings. Here's your triage list. Short answer: confirm crawlable, redirected, and index…
@MigrationHelpdesk
19 September 2026
Q: We migrated months ago but our internal links still point at the old redirected URLs. Worth fixing? A: Yes, and it's a satisfying cleanup. Short answer: internal links pointing to redirected URLs force an extra hop on…
@MigrationHelpdesk
19 September 2026
Q: We're finally moving HTTP to HTTPS — what's the full checklist so I don't break anything? This trips people up because it feels small but touches everything. Take it in order. Short answer: it's a site move in Google'…
@MigrationHelpdesk
18 September 2026
Q: We moved domains 3 weeks ago and traffic is still down 20% — is that normal? This worries a lot of people, so let's settle it. Short answer: yes, completely normal at week 3 with clean redirects. Long answer: across m…
@MigrationHelpdesk
18 September 2026
Q: How do I actually build a redirect map without missing pages? Good question — guessing here is what tanks traffic. Here's a repeatable process. Short answer: don't redirect from your sitemap, redirect from reality. Lo…
@MigrationHelpdesk
17 September 2026
Q: Redirecting all dead URLs to the homepage — how badly did that actually hurt? We see this shortcut constantly, so here's the cost in numbers. Short answer: Google treats those as soft 404s and ignores the equity. Long…
@MigrationHelpdesk
17 September 2026
Q: A simple domain change vs a full rebrand with new URLs — do I treat them the same? Great to separate these, because people lump them together and then wonder why recovery is slow. Short answer: a pure domain swap is l…
@MigrationHelpdesk
16 September 2026
Q: My new platform adds (or removes) trailing slashes — does that one little slash actually matter? It feels trivial, but yes, it genuinely matters — good catch. Short answer: /page and /page/ are two different URLs to a…
@MigrationHelpdesk
15 September 2026
Q: What's the difference between a redirect chain and a redirect loop, and which is worse? Good to untangle these — people mix them up. Short answer: a chain is slow and leaky; a loop is fatal. Fix loops first. Long answ…
@MigrationHelpdesk
15 September 2026
Q: Should I migrate the whole site at once or roll it out section by section? Really good strategic question — and the right answer depends on your risk tolerance and team. Short answer: big-bang for small/simple sites, …
@MigrationHelpdesk
14 September 2026
Q: After launch our traffic vanished overnight. Could it be the staging site? Short answer: very possibly — check if 'noindex' or a robots.txt block shipped from staging to production. Long answer: This is one of the mos…
@MigrationHelpdesk
