Give every old URL a documented destination or outcome
Before changing templates or paths, export current URLs from the sitemap and a crawl. Add landing-page traffic, inquiries, and inbound links where available. Do not redirect every removed page to the homepage; a replacement should satisfy the old page’s intent.
| Old URL, illustrative only | Equivalent target, illustrative only | Decision | Launch check |
|---|---|---|---|
| https://old.example/ar/services/web-design | https://new.example/services/business-website-development | 301 if the target is a close replacement | One response, no chain or loop |
| https://old.example/en/services/web-design | https://new.example/en/services/business-website-development | 301 to the corresponding English page | Do not drop visitors into Arabic |
| Old page with no useful replacement | None | Keep it or return 404 with a recorded reason | Do not send it to the homepage by default |
These are examples, not live project routes. Replace them with your inventory. Each new page should have the correct final canonical. Connect Arabic and English counterparts with reciprocal hreflang references, including each page itself; do not make one language the canonical for the other. Google’s site-move guidance covers URL mapping and redirects. Its localized-version guidance explains the language relationships.
Make launch checks repeatable
Before launch, sample every page type and both languages. Check title, description, canonical, hreflang, internal links, images, forms, and structured data. Confirm the sitemap lists the intended production URLs and that the test environment is not indexable. Keep an expected status and destination beside each important redirect.
After launch, request representative URLs and follow redirects to the final response. Review 404s, crawl issues, and organic landing pages in Search Console; record the release time so you can separate it from other changes. A short rise or fall alone does not establish a cause. Fix concrete failures such as a canonical pointing to staging or a valuable page returning 404. Include this work in the website development scope.
