Check redirects before your migration goes live
Test old URLs against their new destinations in bulk before and after launch. Catch wrong mappings, multi-hop chains, and homepage-dump redirects in one pass.
Most migration regressions are not one dramatic error. They are dozens of small misses: old URLs pointing to the wrong page, chains that should be a single hop, sitemap URLs that still do not resolve cleanly. A migration redirect checker lets you find the pattern across the whole URL list, not just the lucky examples.
Why redirect QA matters during a migration
When URLs change, redirects are doing real work. They help users reach the right content, help search engines understand what moved, and reduce the risk of losing rankings or links because old pages no longer resolve properly.
But redirect logic has to be checked, not assumed. One wrong mapping can be annoying. A pattern of wrong mappings can quietly drag down a launch.
What to verify during a migration
For each old URL, you want to know:
- Does it redirect at all
- How many hops does it take
- Where does it finally land
- Is the final page the intended page
- Is the final response healthy
- Does the destination page use the right canonical and robots signals
- Is the behavior consistent across user-agents
checkredirects.io is well suited to this because it supports batch processing, sitemap import, metadata extraction, timing breakdowns, compare-and-diff runs, and exports you can share with developers or clients.
Common migration mistakes this catches
The most common problems are not exotic:
- Old URLs that now 404
- Old URLs that all dump to the homepage
- Redirect chains caused by layered rules
- Redirects that land on a less relevant page
- HTTP to HTTPS plus www normalization creating unnecessary hops
- Canonical tags that do not match the final URL
- Different results for Googlebot and browsers
Before launch and after launch
Use this as a pre-launch and post-launch workflow. Before launch, verify the redirect map. After launch, re-run the same list and compare results. That is one of the easiest ways to catch regressions after server or CDN rules change.
Frequently asked questions
What should I test before launch?
Start with top pages, pages with backlinks, sitemap URLs, product and category pages, and known legacy URLs that still get traffic or links.
Should every old URL redirect to the homepage?
Usually no. The goal is to send old URLs to the most relevant new page, not just any live page.
Can I re-run the same migration list later?
Yes. checkredirects.io supports comparing runs so you can track changes over time and catch regressions.
Upload your migration URL list
Run the old URLs against the new site, compare runs before and after launch, export the regressions.