# URL mapping

Category: [Relaunch & Migration](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/category/relaunch-migration/) › [Planning & mapping](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/category/relaunch-migration/planning-mapping/)

**URL mapping**, in SEO, is the assignment of old URLs to new target URLs when the structure or domain of a website changes. The result is a list used for relaunches, domain moves and migrations. URL mapping in server software such as IIS, or links to map services, is a different topic.

## What is URL mapping used for?
Before launch, the mapping defines which new URL replaces each old one. The redirects are derived from it. Google advises deciding for every single URL where it should redirect, either in a database or with rewrite rules. Old URLs can be collected from sitemaps, server logs and analytics.

## How is a URL mapping created?
1. Collect all existing URLs, for example from a crawl and the sources above.
2. Define the new URL structure.
3. Assign each old URL the best-matching new one. Google advises against mass redirects to the home page.
4. Implement the mapping with 301 or 308 redirects and avoid chains. Googlebot follows up to 10 hops, but Google recommends ideally no more than 3 hops and fewer than 5.
5. Test after launch and check Search Console for errors.

For Google, permanent redirects signal that the target should be the canonical URL, while temporary redirects (302, 303, 307) are not used for that.

## Example (fictional)
| Old URL | New URL | Redirect |
|---|---|---|
| /services/seo-consulting.html | /seo-consulting/ | 301 |
| /blog/2019/relaunch-tips | /guides/relaunch-tips/ | 301 |

## Related terms

- [Redirect mapping](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/redirect-mapping/index.md)
- [URL inspection tool](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/url-inspection-tool/index.md)
- [URL discovery](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/url-discovery/index.md)
- [301 redirect](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/301-redirect/index.md)
- [Redirect chain](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/redirect-chain/index.md)
- [Website migration](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/website-migration/index.md)
- [Domain migration](https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/domain-migration/index.md)

## Sources

- [Site moves with URL changes – Google Search Central](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/site-move-with-url-changes)
- [Redirects and Google Search – Google Search Central](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/301-redirects)

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Last updated: October 7, 2026
URL: https://seo-geo-glossary.com/en/glossary/url-mapping/