How to Identify Redirect Errors After a Site Migration
Redirect errors quietly cost traffic, and the faster they are fixed the better. Here is how to find broken links and redirect problems, why rankings drop, and how to recover from a failed migration.
You identify redirect errors by crawling the site for broken links and failed redirects, checking Search Console, and testing that important old URLs return a 301 to the right page. Fix broken links by adding missing redirects, correcting wrong ones, and updating internal links. Rankings can drop for normal temporary reasons or real problems like missing or wrong redirects, lost content or blocked crawling. Recover from a failed migration by auditing to find what went wrong, fixing redirects, restoring content, and monitoring as Google re-processes. Act as quickly as possible, since fast fixes limit lost traffic. Recovery cannot be guaranteed.
Identifying redirect errors, and fixing broken links
You identify redirect errors after a migration by crawling the site to find broken links and failed redirects, checking Search Console for coverage and redirect issues, and testing that important old URLs return a 301 to the correct new page. A crawl plus Search Console surfaces most problems; because redirect errors quietly cost traffic, actively looking for them after launch is how you catch and fix them early, following the checks in the redirect guide. You fix broken links after a migration by finding URLs that return errors or point nowhere, then adding the missing redirects, correcting wrong ones, and updating internal links to the right new URLs. Each broken link is either a missing redirect or a bad internal link, both fixable once found; because broken links waste traffic and hurt experience, systematically finding and repairing them is a core recovery task, closely tied to keeping internal links pointing to the new URLs.
Crawl and check
Find broken links fast.
Diagnose the drop
Normal settling or a fault.
Act quickly
Fast fixes limit the damage.
Why rankings drop, recovering from a failed migration, and acting fast
Rankings can drop after a migration for normal temporary reasons while Google re-processes the site, or for real problems such as missing or wrong redirects, lost content, blocked crawling, or changed URLs without redirects. Telling which it is comes from checking for errors alongside the traffic pattern; because the cause determines the fix, diagnosing whether a drop is normal settling or a concrete error is the first step to addressing it, which is where monitoring comes in. You recover from a failed migration by auditing thoroughly to find what went wrong, fixing redirects, restoring lost content, correcting crawl and indexing issues, and then monitoring as Google re-processes the corrected site. Methodical diagnosis and repair give the best chance of recovering; because outcomes are never guaranteed, prompt, thorough correction is the most reliable route back, though recovery cannot be promised, as covered in how long recovery takes. You should act on redirect errors as quickly as possible, because the sooner redirect errors and broken links are fixed, the less traffic is lost and the sooner Google can re-process the corrected pages, so fast action limits the damage. Delay lets problems compound. Because time matters to both traffic and re-processing, addressing redirect errors promptly is important to limiting harm and supporting recovery.
Something gone wrong?
We find it and fix it fast.
Redirect errors and broken links quietly bleed traffic after a migration. We crawl the site, check Search Console, diagnose whether a drop is normal or a real fault, add the missing redirects and restore lost content, and act fast, giving your site the best chance to recover.
Everything included in your plan:
One clear retainer. No setup fee.