Use the procedure on a representative sample, keep the evidence, and record the next action.
Build the baseline before changing the site
- Export current sitemap URLs and crawl important paths. Add Search Console clicks/impressions, analytics landings, backlinks, conversions, and owner priority where available.
- Mark pages to keep, merge, redirect, retire, or rebuild. Assign a specific destination and reviewer to every changed URL.
- Freeze unreviewed URL and content changes before cutover. Back up redirect rules, metadata, robots directives, analytics configuration, and a rollback version.
- After cutover, compare the new crawl against the baseline, test priority redirects and canonical tags, and monitor errors and organic landing pages.