WATCHSTANDEROnline systems, kept on watchBook a call

The Standard / Migration

No old URL gets left behind by accident.

A migration begins with a full inventory and ends with a live MISSING=0 check.

I do not decide what survives by looking only at the current navigation. The full crawl and Search Console evidence define the footprint that has to be handled.

The playbook

  1. Crawl the full current site and collect every known public URL.
  2. Assign each URL a disposition: PRESERVE, 301, or RETIRE.
  3. Gate retirement decisions with Google Search Console evidence.
  4. Build the route or redirect and verify that every target resolves.
  5. Run an automated check that requires MISSING=0.
  6. Watch Search Console and live traffic after launch for paths the inventory missed.

excerpt from a real client artifact, redacted

Migration map

/about | PRESERVE | Core company and trust page

/old-service | 301 | /services/current-service

Verification | PRESERVED 47 | REDIRECTED 12 | MISSING 0