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SEO Madmanby Adam Hafez
Free tool

Site migration redirect map builder

Build a 1:1 old URL to new URL redirect map for a site migration and export it as CSV, Apache .htaccess or Nginx rewrite rules.

Runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you enter is uploaded, logged or stored.

    0 URLs mapped
    Key takeaways
    • Google's site-move documentation recommends mapping every old URL to its closest real equivalent on the new site rather than to one catch-all destination.
    • Redirecting many old URLs to an irrelevant single destination, such as the home page, can confuse users and may be treated as a soft 404 error by Google.
    • Google recommends server side permanent redirects, such as HTTP 301 or 308, for a permanent site move rather than temporary redirects.
    • Apache's Redirect 301 directive and Nginx's rewrite with the permanent flag both need a path, not a full URL, so this tool strips the domain before generating those two formats.
    What it takes
    • An old URL or path for every page that existed before the migration
    • The new URL or path that page now lives at
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    How to use it
    1. 1List every old URL that needs a redirectPull the full list from your old sitemap, server logs or a crawl, not just the pages you remember. A migration that skips indexed but low-traffic URLs leaves crawl paths that resolve to a 404.
    2. 2Map each old URL to its closest real equivalentPoint each row at the page that actually replaced it, not the homepage or a generic category page. Google's own site-move documentation treats a mass redirect to one irrelevant destination as a soft 404 risk.
    3. 3Watch the mapped count and the warningsThe tool counts total mapped URLs live and flags duplicate old URLs, empty fields, and too many rows pointing at the homepage as you type.
    4. 4Choose the output format for your serverSwitch the tab to CSV for a spreadsheet or migration ticket, Apache for a .htaccess file, or Nginx for a server block, then copy the generated block.
    5. 5Deploy permanent redirects, not temporary onesGoogle recommends server side permanent redirects, HTTP 301 or 308, for a permanent site move. A temporary 302 tells search engines the old URL might come back, which slows how quickly they update their index.
    6. 6Validate the redirects after launchCrawl the old URL list against the live site once redirects are deployed to confirm every row resolves to a 200, and watch Search Console for unexpected 404s in the weeks after.
    A site migration succeeds or fails on the redirect map more than on almost anything else in the
project. Google’s own documentation on moving a site with URL changes is specific about what a
good map looks like, and this tool builds one against those rules directly: enter old and new
URLs, watch the warnings, then export the format your server actually reads.
    

    Why a 1:1 map beats redirecting everything to the homepage
    

    Google’s site-move documentation says to decide, for every old URL, where it should redirect to,
and it warns against the shortcut migrations reach for under deadline pressure: “don’t redirect
many old URLs to one irrelevant single URL destination, such as the home page of the new site.”
Google states this can confuse users and may be treated as a soft 404 error, which means the
redirect can end up carrying none of the old page’s ranking signal to anywhere useful. The one
documented exception is consolidation: if several old pages now live as sections of one new page,
redirecting all of them to that specific page is fine, because it is still each URL’s closest real
equivalent, not a generic fallback.
    

    Google also recommends server side permanent redirects, HTTP 301 or 308, for a move intended to be
permanent. A temporary redirect leaves the old URL in a kind of limbo where search engines keep
checking whether it will return, which is the opposite of what a domain or path migration needs.
    

    Apache and Nginx syntax notes
    

    The Apache format this tool generates uses mod_alias’s Redirect 301 /old-path /new-path, an
argument order of status code, then old path, then new path, placed in a .htaccess file or the
site’s virtual host config. The Nginx format uses rewrite ^/old-path$ /new-path permanent;,
where the caret and dollar anchor the match to the exact old path and permanent emits a 301.
Both directives expect a path, not a full URL with scheme and host, which is why this tool strips
the domain from any full URL you paste in before generating those two outputs; the CSV export
keeps whatever you typed, full URL or path, since a spreadsheet has no directive syntax to satisfy.
    

    Usage note
    

    Every field here stays in your browser; nothing is sent anywhere. How much this map matters shows
up in our study of 892 real domain migrations: the fastest recoveries, 19 to 23 days, all involved
complete 1:1 redirect mapping validated before launch, while the slowest cases in the same dataset
took over 1,000 days and never recovered at all. Build the map before the migration, not during
the cleanup afterward.
    Sources
    1. 1.Site moves with URL changes - Google Search CentralPrimary
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