Redirects are simple in theory and easy to get wrong in practice, especially at scale during a migration or URL restructuring.
Map Old URLs to Real Equivalents
Redirecting everything to the homepage is a common shortcut that wastes the opportunity to preserve relevance and ranking signal.
Avoid Redirect Chains
Each additional hop in a redirect chain adds latency and dilutes signal; point old URLs directly to their final destination.
Keep a Permanent Redirect Map
Old backlinks can point to outdated URLs for years, so maintaining redirects long-term protects link equity you've already earned.
Next step: Use the Htaccess Redirect Generator to generate clean redirect rules for your next URL change.