RedirectDuck team
A domain move needs more than one redirect to the new homepage. Start with a list of old addresses and a destination for each important page.
RedirectDuck handles the redirects for a domain you connect. Your new website, its content and its search configuration still need their own migration plan.
1. Build a URL map
Collect the old site's sitemap, useful traffic reports and known inbound links. Include downloads and older paths that are no longer linked from the current navigation.
Map each address to the most relevant replacement. Avoid sending unrelated pages to the homepage just to make the redirect list shorter. Search rankings can fluctuate during a move; redirects are part of the process, not a guarantee of unchanged traffic.
Google's site-move guide also covers updating internal links, canonical URLs, sitemaps and Search Console.
2. Translate the map into rules
For an unchanged set of paths, path forwarding can reduce the number of rules you need. For a changed structure, use explicit paths or a wildcard mapping.
Here is an example in RedirectDuck's CSV format:
source,destination,code
old.example.com/blog/*,https://example.com/articles/$1,301
old.example.com/pricing,https://example.com/pricing,301
In the first rule, $1 is the part matched by the wildcard. A request for /blog/getting-started goes to https://example.com/articles/getting-started.
Use a complete destination URL, including https://. Check the path and query forwarding options on each rule. The import validates rows and duplicate sources; review any errors before proceeding. Import allowances and advanced tools depend on your plan.
3. Connect and verify the domain
Add the old domain in RedirectDuck and use the DNS records shown in its setup instructions. Verification checks whether its DNS points to the configured edge.
Test HTTP and HTTPS separately after DNS resolves. Certificate handling is automatic on the edge, but DNS propagation and certificate issuance can take time. Confirm that HTTPS actually works before treating the move as complete.
4. Watch the requests after the switch
On Starter and higher plans, analytics includes unmatched 404 paths. These are requests that arrived at a verified domain without a matching rule. Review them for missing mappings; an editor can use Add rule from that list.
Check representative old URLs again after each change. Keep ownership of the old domain and maintain the mappings for as long as those links need to work.
