Website Redesign and SEO in Ankara: What to Consider When Moving URLs

A new design should not make you forget old links

Website redesign meetings quickly turn to menus, colors, images and layouts. Old links sometimes stay off the agenda until launch week. Yet a product address a customer saved, a link in an old proposal or a service page opened from search may disappear during the redesign. A migration plan considers how the new structure will support existing use. Waiting until design is complete increases dependencies.

Old product catalogs and PDF links may be important to an Ankara manufacturer that has used the same site for years. A service business may still send past campaign addresses to customers. The software team, content owner and marketing team should therefore review the same URL inventory in the first week. One person calling a page unused while another shares it every week is a common communication problem.

An inventory includes more than menu pages

Collect existing service, product, category, blog and downloadable-file addresses. Pages absent from the menu may still be used. Ask sales staff which links they send to customers. Compare the inventory with existing reports and content lists where available. The aim is not necessarily to preserve every old address unchanged, but to make informed removal or migration decisions.

A table can include the complete address, content type, page purpose, content owner and planned decision. Simple statuses such as 'retain', 'update', 'merge with another page' and 'remove' are enough. Flag uncertain pages separately. Rows without a decision-maker can become urgent work near launch. Identifying uncertainty early prevents every content decision being left to the developer.

Match old and new pages by purpose

Google's site migration guide discusses mapping old URLs to new ones and redirecting to relevant addresses. Sending every old page to one unrelated page does not follow sound mapping logic. Use Google's guide to site moves with URL changes for technical implementation. The business must determine which new page genuinely meets the old need.

Suppose two old pages in a hypothetical catalog, 'corporate desks' and 'office desks', offer the same product group. They may merge into one category in the new structure. If one old page explains different ordering conditions, however, that information should not be lost. Mapping should involve more than matching similar words. Review content scope, customer use and current service status together.

Content migration needs a separate check

An address can open correctly while content sections are missing. Important product information may have been removed because the new design has no space for an old table. A contact form's service selection may be forgotten, or an explanation hidden on mobile. Check content as well as URLs. Keeping every old sentence is not essential; preserving the information needed for decisions is.

The content owner should view the new page as a customer. What is offered, whom does it suit, what is needed for a quote and how should contact be made? Answers may be clearer than before, but simplification should not remove necessary detail. SEO content strategy can help redefine page roles at this stage. Redesign should involve more than copying text without considering it.

Sample groups to check before launch

• Frequently shared service and product addresses.
• Pages present on the old site but missing from the new menu.
• Merged content or content whose scope has changed.
• Pages with forms, downloads and telephone links.
• Templates using long tables, galleries or different content arrangements on mobile.

Adjust the review to the size of the change. Every address can be checked individually on a five-page site. A large catalog may need meaningful samples from different templates alongside automated checks. A positive result from a checking tool does not by itself mean the page gives customers accurate information.

Identify who owns the launch decision

The agency may see the design as complete, the developer may consider the code ready and the company may approve content, producing different definitions of readiness. Combine launch conditions in one list. Explicitly decide whether each remaining item will be completed before or after publication. Do not postpone essential contact and quote functions in particular. A site looking attractive is not enough to support the business's daily work.

Discuss a rollback plan with the technical team too. If an error appears, which version can be restored, how will content changes be preserved and who decides? This conversation shortens response time rather than creates obstacles to launch. Knowing where files and settings are kept prevents hurried assumptions. Company managers do not need every technical detail; they need to know the responsible person and decision process.

Do not stop after one post-launch check

First-day address and form checks are different from observations in subsequent weeks. At launch, verify essential functions; afterward, review requests to old URLs, content errors and user feedback. Ask sales staff to record difficulties using the new site. People speaking with customers may spot missing explanations sooner than the technical team.

Do not attribute every change in search visibility to a single cause. Interpretation becomes more complex when text, URLs, design and product scope change at once. Record the dates of these changes during SEO reporting. Knowing what happened to a page makes it easier to find a starting point when investigating a problem.

Receive the migration records at project closure

When the redesign ends, store the old-to-new URL table, content decisions and completed check records somewhere the company can access. Future teams should not need to research the same questions again. A short explanation matters particularly for removed pages. A forgotten change can lead to unnecessary new work later.

A successful migration does not preserve every old text. It meets existing user needs more clearly in the new structure and manages link changes in a controlled way. With design, content and software decisions in one plan, the launch date becomes part of a manageable process with clear preparation and follow-up rather than a single handover moment.