A new design, a new platform or a new domain usually brings new page addresses. Google knows the old ones: they are what it shows when patients search for the practice, and what other websites link to. Google publishes instructions for telling it where each page has gone; here they are in the order the work happens: before the move, on the day, in the weeks after.
Key points
- A change of host keeps the addresses; a move that changes them needs each old address matched to a new one.
- Redirect each old address permanently, on the server, to its own new page, not to the home page.
- Keep the redirects, and an old domain, for at least a year.
- A new domain also goes through the Change of Address tool in Search Console.
- Expect search positions to move for a while: Google calls this normal.
Changing the host leaves the addresses alone
When a practice changes its hosting, or puts its site behind a content delivery network, every address a patient sees stays as it was. Once the new servers are tested, the domain’s DNS settings are pointed at them. Google says a temporary drop in Googlebot’s crawling is normal straight after the switch, followed by a steady rise over the next few days. Keep the old hosting running until everyone, Googlebot included, gets the site from the new one.
The rest of this post covers moves that change addresses, from a new domain to a redesign in which /our-team.html becomes /team/.
Before the move, match every old address to a new one
Google calls this the mapping. Start with the addresses that matter most: those in the current sitemap, the most visited in the analytics or server logs, and those other websites link to, which Search Console lists. Include the images and files the pages embed.
Beside each old address, write the new one. Several old pages merged into one may all point to the merged page. A page removed with nothing to replace it should return a 404 or 410 code, the server’s way of saying it is not there, rather than be sent somewhere unrelated. Save the list of websites linking to the old site.
Make the new site use its new addresses
Before launch, Google’s guide asks for:
- internal links to the new addresses, not to old ones that will redirect;
- a canonical tag on each new page naming its own address;
- hreflang annotations, on a site in more than one language, updated to the new addresses;
- a sitemap of the new addresses;
- Search Console verification that survives the move.
A site in development is often hidden from search engines with a robots.txt block or noindex rules; on the day, remove every block that was there only for the build. Test the new site on a phone as well as a computer; the post on checking a practice website from your phone lists what to look at.
On the day, redirect each old address to its new page
A redirect sends whoever asks for the old address to the new one. A permanent redirect, coded 301 or 308, tells Google the new address takes the old one’s place in search results. A temporary one, coded 302, 303 or 307, keeps the old address there. Google recommends permanent redirects set on the server, which it says have the highest chance of being read correctly; a JavaScript redirect is a last resort, as Google may never see it if the page fails to render.
Google’s guide also asks:
- Send each old address straight to its final new one. If a chain cannot be avoided, keep it ideally to three redirects or fewer.
- Send old addresses to their equivalents. Redirecting many of them to one unrelated page, such as the home page, confuses visitors and might be treated as a soft 404: what Search Console calls a page that reads as an error although the server reported none.
- Check that each redirect lands on a page that exists. The URL Inspection tool in Search Console tests one address at a time.
Then submit the new sitemap in Search Console.
A new domain also needs the Change of Address tool
When the domain or subdomain changes, the redirects are followed by a Change of Address request in Search Console for the old site, which tells Google about the move and forwards signals to the new one. The practice must own both sites in Search Console, with every variant of the old domain verified and a 301 redirect from the old home page to the new one. The tool is not for a move from http to https, from www to non-www, or within one site.
Search Console Help says the tool’s effect continues for 180 days and the redirects should stay at least that long, longer while Google Search still sends visitors to the old addresses. It also recommends paying for the old domain for at least a year, so that nobody else can buy it and misuse it; a domain that lapses also takes its redirects with it.
Keep the redirects for at least a year
Google’s site move guide looks beyond the tool’s 180 days: keep redirects as long as possible, generally at least a year, and from visitors’ point of view consider keeping them indefinitely. Patients bookmark pages and keep links in old emails; a redirect keeps those working after Google has moved on.
Change the links the practice controls
Redirects catch old links, but Google asks owners to update as many as they can, starting with those that bring the most visits:
- the website link on the Google Business Profile, since Google’s guidelines ask for a website that represents the location and no address that redirects; Google reviews the edit before it shows;
- entries on hospital, insurer and directory websites, whose owners can be asked to correct them;
- social media profiles and advertising campaigns;
- the site’s llms.txt file, if it has one, because its links are addresses too (what llms.txt does for a practice website).
In the weeks after, watch Search Console
Google says temporary fluctuation in rankings during a move is normal and that rankings settle down over time. A small or medium-sized site can take a few weeks for most pages to move, and the move is complete only once Googlebot has visited every old and new address. Meanwhile:
- The Page indexing report should show old addresses leaving the index and new ones joining it. Old addresses listed as “Page with redirect” are expected; a rising count of “Not found (404)”, “Soft 404” or “Redirect error” is not.
- The Performance report for Search results should start to show the new addresses earning impressions and clicks.
- The server’s logs show whether Googlebot is crawling the new site and meeting unexpected errors.
Common questions
Will the practice drop in Google after the move?
Its positions may move for a while: Google expects temporary fluctuation during a move and says rankings settle down over time.
Can every old page redirect to the new home page?
Google advises against it, because it confuses visitors and may be treated as a soft 404. Send each page to its equivalent, and let pages that are gone for good return a 404 or 410.
The redirects are part of the search and AI discovery work on every website we look after.
References
- How to move a site. Google Search Central. 2026. Available from: developers.google.com/
search/ [cited ].docs/ crawling -indexing/ site -move -with -url -changes - Changing your hosting. Google Search Central. 2025. Available from: developers.google.com/
search/ [cited ].docs/ crawling -indexing/ site -move -no -url -changes - Redirects and Google Search. Google Search Central. 2026. Available from: developers.google.com/
search/ [cited ].docs/ crawling -indexing/ 301 -redirects - Change of Address tool. Search Console Help. Available from: support.google.com/
webmasters/ [cited ].answer/ 9370220 - Page indexing report. Search Console Help. Available from: support.google.com/
webmasters/ [cited ].answer/ 7440203 - Performance report (Search results): Overview and basic setup. Search Console Help. Available from: support.google.com/
webmasters/ [cited ].answer/ 7576553 - Edit your Business Profile. Google Business Profile Help. Available from: support.google.com/
business/ [cited ].answer/ 3039617 - Guidelines for representing your business on Google. Google Business Profile Help. Available from: support.google.com/
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