Map old product links before moving a store

A store move can leave useful product links behind in search, messages, QR codes and social posts. Map those destinations before the old site disappears.

Collect links from more than the menu

Start with important product and category URLs, then include pages shared in campaigns, support messages and packaging. A navigation menu rarely contains every address a customer can still reach.

Keep images and downloadable documents in scope when customers or other sites link to them. Record the old URL and its purpose before deciding the destination.

Choose the closest genuine replacement

A moved product should lead to the corresponding product where one exists. Do not send every old URL to the new homepage merely because it is convenient. For discontinued items, decide what honest customer-facing state is appropriate.

The mapping should identify merged, removed and unchanged pages separately. That prevents a missing product from being silently treated as a successful migration.

Give the implementer a testable table

Include old URL, intended new URL, expected response and owner. Add a reason for ambiguous cases. Keep the list stable enough to test before launch and after cutover.

Google's site-move documentation recommends preparing a URL mapping and monitoring the old and new URLs. Search changes can fluctuate during a move; no table guarantees immediate traffic continuity. Google migration guidance

Test the destination content

A redirect reaching a page is not sufficient if that page describes the wrong item. Inspect the selected product, images and buying options. Check a few links from the actual social or messaging context where customers use them.

Avoid testing only the homepage. A successful root URL can coexist with dozens of broken deep links.

Keep the old evidence available

Retain the mapping, test results and relevant before-state. If a valuable link fails later, the team should know what it was intended to do. Do not delete the old records immediately after the first successful smoke test.

Use the catalogue hub to resolve product identity before the move. Link preservation is not a separate SEO decoration; it is part of helping an existing customer find the thing they already intended to buy.

Illustrative case to check

An old campaign links to a floral scarf that now has a different URL. Map it to that scarf, not to an unrelated new collection. Another old item is permanently discontinued; record that separately and choose an honest destination or unavailable response. The mapping table should explain both cases so the implementer does not apply one blanket redirect.