When paths disappear or content is consolidated during a relaunch, map known historical addresses to their intended destinations. Sending everything to the homepage does not preserve the information someone expected to find.
Collect old URLs from existing exports, known campaigns, internal links and available search data. Record sources and collection dates: one sitemap does not necessarily contain every address ever used.
Keep unresolved decisions visible
A fictional working format is:
old_path,new_path,decision
/old/advice,/advice/,content-match-reviewed
/old/bespoke-product,,needs-content-decision
The second row is not ready for an automatic redirect import. Its empty destination represents outstanding work rather than an instruction to use the homepage. Shop and server importers may require different columns, so separate the editorial mapping from the technical import file.
Prioritise documented important entry points using available evidence such as campaign destinations or search clicks. When measurements are absent, record why a page takes priority, such as a link still used in a printed catalogue.
Check intended destinations before launch and actual redirects afterward. Retain unresolved cases, comparison tests and the previous mapping for rollback. The relaunch checklist organises tasks, while the redirect checker inspects individual implemented chains. Review destinations in your working list before generating the import file.
Download the fictional CSV sample · UTF-8, CSV.