Redirect an old URL only to a page with the same intent, and return 404 or 410 when there is none

Google's site move guide warns against redirecting many old URLs to one irrelevant destination such as the home page, which can confuse users and might be treated as a soft 404, and says to return 404 or 410 for content that is not moved. Community speakers who ran migrations at the event built them around one redirect map that gives every old URL an approved destination, redirected only where a new page served the same intent and never sent removed URLs to the home page, even those still bringing traffic. A 200 on every new URL proves only that the URLs work, not that the content users came for is still there.

Before launch, freeze the inventory (CMS export, crawl, sitemaps, search data and logs) and approve a redirect map with one row per old URL: a same-intent target, or 404 or 410. Where two language or market versions duplicate each other, redirect both old URLs to one shared target. After launch, test the live site against the map.

Regensbot proposes a verdict with the evidence; a person on your team confirms it.

The evidence comes from your verified site: its pages, its profile and the files you upload.

You verify the site by a DNS TXT record, a meta tag or a file. Regensbot then keeps a checklist item for this requirement, with a state, a guide, an evidence upload and reminders.

How verdicts workWhat you connect