Redirect Map

Redirect maps are the safety net that preserves SEO value during site migrations. Without them, changing your URL structure means losing all the search equity, backlinks, and bookmarks that pointed to your old URLs.

When you need a redirect map

Redirect maps are essential during domain changes, CMS migrations, URL structure changes (like moving from /blog/123 to /blog/post-title), site mergers, and any restructuring that changes page URLs. Even renaming a single important page should involve a redirect.

Creating a redirect map

The process starts with a complete inventory of current URLs (from a crawl), followed by mapping each old URL to its best new equivalent. One-to-one mappings are ideal. When pages are merged, all old URLs should redirect to the consolidated page. When pages are removed entirely, redirect to the most relevant parent or category page.

Automating redirect maps with IATO

IATO generates redirect maps automatically after you restructure a site in the visual sitemap editor. The AI compares old and new structures URL by URL and produces a downloadable CSV ready for server implementation. This eliminates the tedious manual mapping process that’s typically the most time-consuming part of any site migration.

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