Broken Links After a Site Migration: A Survival Guide
Migrations are where links break in bulk. Here is how to come through one with your SEO intact.
When URLs change during a migration, every link pointing to an old address can break at once, making migrations the biggest source of broken links a site faces. Map old URLs to new ones with a redirect for each before launch, crawl immediately after to catch misses, and keep monitoring for weeks.
Migrations break links in bulk
When URLs change during a migration, every link pointing to an old address can break at once. Without care, a migration is the single biggest source of broken links a site ever experiences. Related: Why Broken Links Quietly Hurt Your SEO
Keep reading: Why Broken Links Quietly Hurt Your SEO, Internal vs External Broken Links: Which to Fix First, How to Find Broken Links at Scale. See how LinkRotly helps you continuous broken link monitoring for websites.
Map old to new before you launch
The core of a safe migration is a complete map of old URLs to their new locations, with a redirect for each. Doing this before launch prevents most of the breakage that would otherwise happen.
Audit immediately after
No plan is perfect. A full crawl right after launch catches the URLs that were missed, the redirect chains that formed, and the internal links that still point to old addresses. Related: Internal vs External Broken Links: Which to Fix First
Watch for weeks, not days
The effects of a migration surface over weeks as search engines recrawl. Keep monitoring well past launch day, so a problem that appears late still gets caught and fixed. Related: Why does a page return a 200 status yet still behave like a broken link?
- A migration can break every old link at once
- Map old URLs to new ones with redirects before launch
- Crawl immediately after to catch what was missed
- Keep monitoring for weeks, not just launch day
Julien Jimenez
Julien Jimenez is an independent software builder based in Paris. He designs, ships, and operates focused SaaS products for small businesses and independent professionals. Read the full author page.
Frequently asked questions
What is the core of a safe migration?
A complete map of old URLs to their new locations, with a redirect for each, built before launch. Doing this prevents most of the breakage that would otherwise happen.
Why keep monitoring for weeks after a migration?
The effects surface over weeks as search engines recrawl. Monitoring well past launch day means a problem that appears late still gets caught and fixed, not just the obvious day-one issues.
Find broken links before your visitors do
Continuous broken link monitoring for websites. LinkRotly is built to help you put this into practice.
Scan my siteMore from the LinkRotly blog
Why Broken Links Quietly Hurt Your SEO
Internal vs External Broken Links: Which to Fix First
How to Find Broken Links at Scale
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