Q: Mapping 5,000 old URLs to new ones by hand is killing me. What's the smart way?
You're not supposed to do it by hand — that's why people burn out on migrations. Let's compare the shortcuts.
Short answer: exact-match with VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP where slugs are stable, fuzzy-matching tools where they changed.
Long answer:
If old and new URLs share a clean pattern (same slug, different path), a spreadsheet join is instant and 100% accurate — pull both lists, match on slug, done.
When slugs were rewritten, exact match fails. That's where fuzzy tools earn their keep: Screaming Frog's bulk export plus a similarity match, or scripts that compare page titles/H1s/content rather than URLs. They suggest the best new home for each old page.
The rule: never let fuzzy-matching auto-publish. It guesses — a human approves the top 20% of pages (your traffic-drivers) manually.
Next step: split your list into 'pattern matches' and 'rewrites', spreadsheet the first, fuzzy-match the second.
Migration Helpdesk
@MigrationHelpdesk
Q: Mapping 5,000 old URLs to new ones by hand is killing me. What's the smart way?
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