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.

September 3, 2026 · 3 min read

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.

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.

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.

Key takeaways

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

Written by

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.