Migration · Glossary
Redirect map
Last updated June 29, 2026 · by Tal Gerafi
A redirect map is a spreadsheet or file that pairs every old URL with its new destination, so a site migration sends each old page and its SEO value to the right new page.
A redirect map is a two-column plan — old URL on the left, new URL on the right — that tells a migration exactly where each old address now lives. When you move a website to a new platform or URL structure, the old addresses disappear; the map is the single source of truth the migration runs on, and the difference between keeping your traffic and watching it drop.
How does a redirect map work?
A redirect map is usually a two-column list: the old URL on the left, the new URL on the right. You build one row for every page that has value — pages with rankings, backlinks, or traffic. Each row then becomes a 301 redirect, the permanent server rule that forwards a visitor (and a search engine) from the old address to the new one and passes most of the page's ranking signals along with it.
The map is also where you make decisions. Some old pages map one-to-one to a clear new equivalent. Some thin or duplicate pages get folded into a single stronger page. A few get retired on purpose. Writing it down forces those choices before launch instead of leaving broken links for crawlers to find. In our experience, the redirect map is the most boring artifact of a migration and the one most likely to break a migration when it's skipped.
Why does a redirect map matter for B2B sites?
B2B and SaaS sites often carry years of accumulated SEO value: ranking blog posts, comparison pages, and docs that earned links from real publications. A WordPress-to-Next.js migration usually changes the URL pattern, so without a redirect map every one of those pages 404s and that value evaporates.
A clean map also protects your canonical URLs — it makes sure each new page has one correct address and one chain pointing to it, with no loops or double hops that confuse crawlers. We treat the redirect map as a launch gate: it's reviewed by a person, not just generated and trusted. The full process lives in our guide to WordPress-to-Next.js migration SEO.
FAQ
What goes in a redirect map?
One row for every old page that has value — rankings, backlinks, or traffic — pairing its old URL with the new destination. Pages with no value can be left to return a clean 404 or 410 rather than redirected to an unrelated page.
Is a redirect map the same as a 301 redirect?
No. The redirect map is the plan; the 301 redirect is the server rule that carries it out. Each row in the map typically becomes one permanent 301 from the old URL to the new one.
What happens if you skip the redirect map?
When the URL structure changes and there's no map, old pages return 404s, accumulated ranking signals and inbound links break, and the traffic those pages earned tends to drop. Mapping the URLs before launch is what preserves that value through a WordPress-to-Next.js migration.