During a website redesign or migration, handling old links is often overlooked but carries high risks. Without a complete record of original site data, the new site may suffer from broken links, traffic drops, or ranking fluctuations. The core of checking old links' original data is to collect, organize, and verify a complete set of link information for accurate 301 redirects and content migration. The following checklist will help you complete this process systematically.
1. Collect the List of Old Links
First, you need a complete list of old links. You can gather them from the following sources:
- Website crawl data: Use tools like Screaming Frog or Sitebulb to crawl the entire site and export all URLs, including different versions (HTTP/HTTPS, with/without www).
- Webmaster platform data: Export indexed links and crawl error reports from Baidu Search Resource Platform or Google Search Console. These are links that search engines have actually crawled.
- Log files: If server access logs are available, analyze recently visited URLs, especially those frequently accessed by crawlers.
After merging and deduplicating, you'll have a base URL set. It's recommended to export this to a spreadsheet for easy annotation of status and mapping targets.
2. Record the Status of Each Link
For each collected old link, check and record the following data:
- HTTP status code: Test the return code (200, 301, 404, 500, etc.) one by one. For 301 redirect links, record the target address and redirect chain.
- Content type: Is it an article page, product page, category page, or functional page? Different content types may require different handling during migration.
- Historical performance: Obtain recent traffic, rankings, and backlink count for the link from webmaster platforms or analytics tools to assess its importance. High-value links need priority to ensure normal access after migration.
- Last update time: Is the content still valid? If the page is outdated, consider discarding or merging it.
It's advisable to add a "Handling Method" column in the spreadsheet, marking as "Keep and redirect," "Merge into new page," "Delete and return 410," etc.
3. Organize Backlink Data
Backlinks to old links are valuable "votes" that should not be lost during migration. You need to:
- Export backlink list: Use tools like Ahrefs or Majestic to export the backlink report for the old domain, filtering links pointing to specific URLs.
- Identify important backlinks: Focus on backlinks from high-authority sites, with relevant anchor text, or significant traffic sources.
- Verify backlink status: Some backlinks may have become invalid or point to broken links. Record and update them to new addresses.
If there are many backlinks, prioritize processing by page hierarchy: homepage, category pages, and high-traffic content pages.
4. Check URL Structure and Parameters
Old websites often have dynamic parameters, tracking tags, or different URL versions. You need to:
- Standardize URLs: Check if multiple URLs point to the same content (e.g., ?id=1 vs. ?product=1) and determine the canonical version.
- Handle parameters: For filtering, sorting, and other parameters, decide whether the new site needs to retain corresponding functionality. If not, set canonical tags or redirect rules.
- Domain/subdomain changes: If the domain or directory structure changes significantly, record the mapping between old paths and new paths.
The result of this step is a mapping table clearly showing the new URL or handling result for each old URL.
5. Verify Redirect Rules
After the new site goes live, test each important old link to ensure it correctly redirects to the corresponding new page. Checkpoints include:
- 301 one-time redirect: Avoid redirect chains (e.g., A->B->C) and ensure direct access to the final page.
- No circular redirects: Test for cases like A->B->A.
- Batch verification: Use tools or scripts to batch-check over 1,000 key URLs, confirming the status code is 301 or 302 (temporary) and recording the target address.
For content without a clear mapping, you can uniformly redirect to relevant category pages or the homepage, but avoid sending all broken links to the homepage.
6. Monitor Post-Launch Data
After configuring redirects, continuously observe for a period:
- Webmaster platform error reports: Watch for an increase in 404 errors or new crawl issues.
- Traffic changes: Compare traffic to new pages corresponding to old pages before and after the redesign. If there's a significant drop, investigate whether redirects are correct.
- Backlink effectiveness: Use backlink tools to periodically verify that important backlinks still pass authority to new pages.
If redirects fail or are missed, promptly add corrections. It's generally recommended to observe for 2-4 weeks to ensure all old links are smoothly transitioned.
Summary
Checking the original site data of old links is a systematic task that shouldn't be done haphazardly. Following the checklist above step by step can reduce migration risks and minimize traffic loss. For large or complex websites, process in batches, prioritizing high-value pages. After migration, keep the original site data table for future maintenance reference.
