Inventory before design
Export the full URL list and the pages that currently attract traffic. Any page with existing visibility must have a defined destination in the new structure.
Preserve or redirect every URL
Keep URLs where possible. Where a path changes, implement a permanent redirect from the old address to the closest equivalent — not to the homepage.
Keep the content that earns the visits
Redesigns often shorten pages for aesthetic reasons. If a page ranks because it answers a question thoroughly, that answer must survive the redesign.
Rebuild the technical foundation
Unique titles and descriptions per page, one H1, semantic headings, canonical URLs, a valid sitemap and a robots file that does not block the new site.
Verify after launch
Re-crawl the site, check redirects resolve in a single hop, confirm indexing in Search Console and watch the previously ranking pages for four to six weeks.