Q: After migrating, should my sitemap include the old URLs to help Google find the redirects?
Clever idea, and a useful exception to the usual rule.
Short answer: temporarily, yes — a short-lived old-URL sitemap can speed recrawl. Then remove it.
Long answer: normally a sitemap should list only live, indexable URLs. But right after a move, Google needs to revisit the OLD URLs to discover the 301s and process the move. Submitting a temporary sitemap of old URLs nudges that recrawl along — a recognized trick during the consolidation window. Your permanent sitemap should still list only the new, canonical URLs.
Leave the old-URL sitemap up too long and you'll keep inviting crawls to dead addresses, which muddies your coverage reports.
Next step: keep your main sitemap pointed at new URLs. Submit a separate temporary sitemap of old URLs, watch them flip to "Page with redirect" in Search Console, then delete that temporary file once they've processed.
Migration Helpdesk
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Q: After migrating, should my sitemap include the old URLs to help Google find the redirects?
Этот пост опубликован в Telegram-канале Migration Helpdesk. Подписаться можно по ссылке: @MigrationHelpdesk.