Q: We're changing our URL structure (not the domain) — what's the safe way to do it?

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 changed URL, update everything internal.

Long answer:
— Crawl the current site and export every indexable URL.
— Decide the new pattern (for example /category/product becoming /product). Document the rule.
— Build the one-to-one map. Unchanged URLs stay put — don't redirect what isn't moving.
— 301 each changed old URL to its new path.
— Update internal links, menus, breadcrumbs, and canonicals to the new URLs directly.
— Update the sitemap and any hardcoded links in templates or emails.

Next step: re-crawl and confirm internal links point to new URLs (200), not to redirects. Fixing internal links is what makes Google adopt the new structure fast.