Moving your site: redirects and Change of Address
Read the conclusion first
A migration starts with an old-to-new URL map and a tested destination. Moving a host without changing URLs, changing paths and changing domains need different actions. Verify redirects and the new pages before using any eligible Change of Address request; then monitor both properties without promising a recovery date.
Applicable conditions
Applies to domain migrations where you have full management permissions. You should back up and retain old-site access and rollback capability.
Before you open the report
The old-to-new URL map, both properties, canonical rules, internal links and a verified backup/rollback plan.
Use one concrete URL or report first. Keep account credentials and private visitor data out of shared notes.
Steps and verification
Define the move and its baseline
Write down which URLs change and which only change infrastructure. Keep a dated inventory of important pages, images, downloads and language versions, plus their current search and analytics baselines. Avoid combining a domain move, redesign and wholesale content rewrite if those changes can be separated.
Prepare the destination before switching traffic. Test representative product, article, language, pagination and download URLs. Record which development blocks must be removed at launch and which private routes must remain private. Preserve Search Console verification and confirm control of both properties.
Make the URL map an acceptance checklist
For each old URL, identify the equivalent final destination and why it matches the reader's task. Use direct permanent server redirects for moved content. A deleted page without a replacement needs an appropriate error, not an unrelated redirect to the homepage.
Test the full path from an old public URL to the final response. The destination should load the intended content, use its new canonical, carry updated language references where applicable, and be linked directly from the new site. Retain evidence for exceptional mappings; a homepage-only smoke test misses failures in long-tail paths.
Launch in the correct order
Confirm content and assets, activate the reviewed redirects, remove only launch-time indexability blocks and update internal links and sitemaps. Domain or subdomain moves may use Change of Address after the move and redirects. HTTP-to-HTTPS and same-domain path changes do not use that tool.
Keep a rollback procedure tied to the actual configuration files and content version. If an old product URL reaches a broken destination, fix the mapping or destination promptly. Submitting a tool request cannot repair a redirect loop, missing page or staging noindex left on the new site.
Monitor technical delivery and search separately
Check old-to-new response paths, new-site errors and capacity, plus search performance and indexing in both properties. Keep deployment time beside the charts. Initial fluctuation alone does not prove a bad migration; a repeated broken mapping or blocked destination is actionable evidence.
Google recommends retaining redirects generally for at least a year. Track unresolved URL groups and distinguish a technically working move from Google's later processing of it. Close the release checklist after the mapped pages pass their checks; continue search monitoring with its actual dates and results rather than guaranteeing a fixed recovery window.
Common mistake: Only submit new sitemap to complete migration
It cannot replace correct redirects, page consistency, and normal business entry points.
How to decide when you encounter different situations
Match your actual observation to a row before changing the page. If it does not match, collect the missing evidence first.
| What you see | Next step | How to confirm |
|---|---|---|
| Old page has an equivalent new page | Permanent redirect per URL | Target is normal and canonical is consistent |
| Old page has no equivalent content | Decide separately to delete or keep | Do not redirect everything to the homepage |
| After the new site goes live | Keep old-site redirects and properties | Continue observing and retain rollback |
Move each page to an equivalent destination
Teaching scenario. Names, URLs and numbers illustrate the method; they are not customer or measured site results.
- What you observe
- Example: /old/desk-size/ moves to /guides/desk-size/, but every other old article redirects to the new homepage.
- What it establishes
- The matched guide preserves the task; blanket homepage redirects do not. Address Change eligibility is a separate check from path-level redirects.
- What to do next
- Create explicit equivalent mappings, update internal links and sitemaps, and ensure new pages permit intended indexing. Use the official migration workflow only for eligible moves.
What counts as a checked result
Test representative old URLs through their final targets. Retain old-domain control and monitor both properties; immediate rank stability is not an acceptance condition.
If a required check fails, keep the error and return to the matching decision branch. A blank record means unverified, not passed.
Leave with a checked result, not another vague instruction
- Your deliverable
- A tested old-to-new mapping with delivery evidence and separate search follow-up.
- Stop and resolve this first
- Do not launch when important old URLs lead to missing, excluded or unrelated targets.
Record missing evidence in the worksheet below. An unresolved test is useful information; a blank field is not a pass.
Checklist for this page
Fill in your own check results, then decide the next step. Blank means not yet verified, not normal. Content is saved only in the current local session and is not submitted to the server or AI.
Frequently asked questions
Does an HTTPS switch also use address change?
Judge by the official applicable conditions; protocol or path changes cannot be directly treated as the domain migration process.
Can I shut down the old host immediately?
Keep the necessary redirect infrastructure for the migration period described by official guidance. Do not remove working redirects before the plan is complete.
Official materials and usage boundaries
This page provides operational judgment and checking methods, and does not show customer success cases. Calculation examples and request samples are teaching materials, not actual website metrics. Google's reports, conditions, and interfaces may change; please refer to the current official documentation.
Read the corresponding Google official documentationContinue with the relevant tool
Test representative old HTTPS URLs with AISEO Site's redirect checker, then follow search changes on the verified destination property.
See how it works →