7. Redirects and Launch Safety

7.1 Redirect strategy

Redirect quality determines whether migration preserves SEO authority.

Redirect principles

• Prefer one-hop 301 redirects
• Map every historically indexed URL
• Keep redirect logic version-controlled
• Prefer permanent redirects (301 or 308) for moved content

Sources for redirect mapping

• Current XML sitemap
• Crawl export from tools like Screaming Frog
• Search Console top pages and backlinks
• CMS slug history table

Redirect file shape

from,to,status
/old-post,/blog/new-post,301
/legacy/category/foo,/resources/foo,301

7.2 Parallel running

Run old and new stacks in parallel for final validation.

Cutover process

1. Freeze content edits in WordPress.
2. Run final extraction and import.
3. Validate parity reports.
4. Update DNS and edge routing.
5. Monitor for 404 spikes and rollback triggers.

Staging requirements

• Production-like domain and SSL
• Production-like caching settings
• Full crawlability controls to avoid accidental indexing
• Redirect testing with a full crawl so you catch missing mappings before launch

7.3 Launch checklist

• Core web vitals baseline met
• Security headers configured
• Error tracking enabled
• Synthetic uptime checks active
• Backup and rollback plan documented

Cloudflare integration

Use Cloudflare to:

• Enforce HTTPS and HSTS
• Apply WAF managed rules
• Implement edge redirects where appropriate
• Cache static assets aggressively

Post-launch first 72 hours

Track:

• 404 rates and redirect misses
• Search impressions and indexed URL count
• Form submission success rates
• API error rates and latency
• Redirect chains and loops introduced by edge rules or app redirects