Redirect Mapping Tool
Paste your old and new URL lists, or load them from sitemaps. The tool proposes which new page replaces each old one, scores every match, and lets you correct the weak ones before you export a clean redirect map.
- Matches thousands of URLs in seconds
- Confidence score on every match
- Export to CSV, generator or checker
Ready to turn the map into code? Send it to the Redirect Rule Generator, then confirm it works with the SEO Migration Redirect Checker.
From two URL lists to a scored redirect map
The tool never guesses silently. Every proposal comes with a score and a reason, so you know which rows to trust and which to check.
Same path or page name
If the path is unchanged, or the final page name (the slug) is the same under a new folder, the match scores 88 to 100.
Rare words count more
Words that appear on few pages, such as a product name, weigh more than common ones like blog or services.
Dates and extensions ignored
/2019/05/seo-tips.html matches /seo-tips. Trailing slashes and index files are normalised too.
Titles when you have them
Add a page title after each URL (url, title) and pages with a renamed URL but the same title still match.
You stay in control
Open any row to see other likely matches, type your own destination, mark the page as gone (410) or remove the redirect.
Built for the next step
Export a CSV, or send the map straight to the Redirect Rule Generator for server code and the Redirect Checker for verification.
What each confidence band means
A score is a measure of how alike two URLs are, not a guarantee that the content is equivalent. Treat it as a way to prioritise your review.
| Band | Score | What it usually means | What to do |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | 85 to 100 | Same path, or the same page name in a different folder. | Spot-check a sample, then accept. |
| Medium | 60 to 84 | Most of the words match, with some added or missing. | Review each row. Most are right, some are near misses. |
| Low | 35 to 59 | A few shared words. A weak guess. | Check the content. Pick another match or a new URL. |
| Fallback | 15 to 30 | No good match, so the closest section or the home page was used because you chose that option. | Replace with a real equivalent, or mark as gone (410). |
| No match | Below 35 | Nothing on the new site resembles this page. | Decide: redirect to a related page, merge, or return 410. |
How to map your URLs
A clean redirect map is the most important document in a migration. These steps build one.
Collect the old URLs
Crawl the old site, pull URLs from its sitemap, Search Console or analytics, and add pages that have backlinks.
Collect the new URLs
Export the new site's URLs from a crawl or its sitemap. Both lists can be pasted, uploaded or loaded from a sitemap.
Match and review
Run the match, sort by lowest confidence and fix the weak rows. Mark removed pages as gone (410).
Export and test
Download the CSV or send it to the Redirect Rule Generator, deploy the redirects, then verify them with the Migration Redirect Checker.
How to build a redirect map that protects your traffic
Most migration traffic losses come from the redirect map, not the server code. These habits prevent them.
Map to the closest equivalent
One old page to one new page that answers the same query. Sending everything to the home page is treated as a soft 404.
Start with pages that earn
Prioritise URLs with backlinks, rankings and traffic. Those are the rows where a wrong redirect costs the most.
Merge deliberately
Several old pages can point to one new page when you consolidate content. Do it on purpose and check that the new page really covers them.
Retire pages honestly
Pages with no replacement can return 410 Gone. It is better than a misleading redirect.
Keep the map as a document
Store the CSV with your migration plan. It is the record of what moved where, and the input for your post-launch checks.
Verify after launch
Run the map through a redirect checker on the live site, then watch Search Console for crawl errors and coverage changes.
What a redirect map is and why matching old URLs to new ones comes first
A redirect map is a list that pairs every old URL with the new URL that replaces it. It is usually a spreadsheet with an old column, a new column and a status code. Server rules are written from it, so any mistake in the map is copied into the live redirects.
The hard part is not the server code. It is deciding where thousands of old pages should go. Google's site move guidance is to decide where each old URL should redirect, and not to send many old URLs to one irrelevant page such as the new home page. If several old pages were merged into one new page, redirecting them all to it is fine.
A mapping tool does the first pass. It compares the words in each path, gives rare words more weight than common ones, ignores dates and file extensions, and scores every pair. The score measures how alike two URLs look. It cannot tell you whether the content is equivalent, so the rows with medium and low scores still need a person. This page is about the matching step. Writing the server code and testing the live result are separate steps.
When to build a redirect map
You need a map whenever URLs change and the old and new lists are too long to match by eye.
Redesign with new slugs
A new theme or structure renames pages. Matching old and new lists by page name finds most pairs quickly and leaves you the renamed ones to check.
Changing CMS or platform
Moving from one platform to another often changes URL patterns, such as /2019/05/post.html to /post. The matcher ignores dates and extensions to pair them.
Merging thin content
When several weak pages become one stronger page, map each old URL to the merged page on purpose, and check that the new page covers what the old ones did.
Reorganising categories in a store
Category trees change when a catalogue is rebuilt. Add page titles after each URL so renamed categories still match on what they are called.
Cleaning out old URLs
Load the sitemap and Search Console URLs of a long-lived site, find which ones have no new equivalent and decide on each: redirect, merge or return 410.
Moving to a new domain
Even when paths stay the same, a map confirms that every old URL exists on the new site and shows pages that were dropped on the way.
Redirect mapping mistakes and how to fix them
Most traffic lost in a migration comes from a poor map, not from the server rules.
Sending everything to the home page
What goes wrong: It is the fastest way to finish a map and the weakest result. Google advises against redirecting many old URLs to one irrelevant destination, and such redirects can be treated as soft 404s.
The fix: Redirect each page to the closest page that answers the same query. If none exists, merge it into a broader page or mark it as gone with a 410.
Trusting the match without reading it
What goes wrong: A high score means the URLs look alike, not that the pages are equivalent. A product renamed to a different product can still score well.
The fix: Spot-check the high band, review every medium row, and rework the low ones by hand. Sort by lowest confidence first.
Starting with the wrong URLs
What goes wrong: A crawl of the current site misses old pages that no longer link anywhere but still earn backlinks or rank. Their redirects are the ones most worth keeping.
The fix: Combine a crawl, the old sitemap, Search Console and analytics URLs, then add pages that have external links. Prioritise by traffic and links.
Building chains into the map
What goes wrong: If the new URL list contains addresses that will themselves be redirected, an old URL ends up two hops from its destination.
The fix: Map to the final live URL, the one that returns 200. Check the new list for redirected, noindex or error pages before you match.
Ignoring URL variants
What goes wrong: Upper-case paths, trailing slashes, index.html and tracking parameters make several old addresses for one page, and only one version gets mapped.
The fix: Normalise the lists before matching, then add the variants that real visitors and links use. The tool already treats trailing slashes and index files alike.
Stopping at the redirect
What goes wrong: A redirect carries visitors across, but the new site still lists old URLs in its internal links, canonicals, hreflang and sitemap.
The fix: Update internal links, canonical tags, hreflang annotations and the sitemap to the new URLs, as Google's site move guidance says, instead of relying on redirects.
Redirect mapping terms explained
- Redirect map
- A table pairing each old URL with its replacement and a redirect type. It is the plan the server rules are built from and a record of what moved where.
- URL inventory
- The full list of old URLs gathered from a crawl, the sitemap, Search Console, analytics and backlink data. A map is only as complete as its inventory.
- Slug
- The last part of a URL path that names the page, such as
seo-tipsin/blog/seo-tips. Pages that keep their slug are the easiest to match. - Confidence score
- A number from 0 to 100 showing how closely two URLs resemble each other. It guides your review and does not prove the content matches.
- One-to-one and many-to-one
- One-to-one sends an old page to its direct successor. Many-to-one sends several old pages to one new page, which suits deliberate content merges.
- Fallback
- A weak match, such as the nearest section or the home page, chosen only because no better page was found. Replace it with a real equivalent.
- 410 Gone
- A status for a page removed on purpose with no replacement. It is a cleaner answer than redirecting a retired page to something unrelated.
- Soft 404
- A response that looks like a missing page to Google even though it returns a success status. Google says redirecting many old URLs to one irrelevant page, such as the home page, might be treated as a soft 404.
Related tools, guides and services
A map is one stage of a migration. These cover the stages around it.
Redirect Rule Generator
Turn the finished map into code for Apache, Nginx, Cloudflare, Netlify and more.
ToolSEO Migration Redirect Checker
Test every old URL on the live site and confirm it reaches the planned page.
ToolSitemap to URL List Converter
Pull every URL from an old or new sitemap to use as input for the map.
GuideRedesign SEO migration checklist
Read how the redirect map fits into inventory, QA and post-launch monitoring.
ServiceSEO migration service
Get the redirect map, rules and launch checks handled for a redesign or domain move.
Built by
Madhav Kushwaha
SEO, AEO, GEO & Digital Marketing Consultant in Kathmandu, Nepal, and trainer at ODcrU Academy and TechAxis Institute. I built this tool because the slowest part of a migration is deciding where thousands of old URLs should go. Doing it by hand in a spreadsheet is error-prone, and blind automation sends traffic to the wrong pages. The tool does the first 80 percent and shows exactly how sure it is, so your time goes on the rows that need judgement.
Redirect Mapping Tool: Frequently Asked Questions
More free SEO tools
A migration needs a plan, the code and a check. These tools cover each step, and they pass your redirect map between them.