Diagnosis File #002
Migration redirect chain causing indexing loss
Priority pages re-entered the index once URL signals were consistent.
Problem
After a site rebuild, key landing pages stopped being indexed even though traffic to supporting pages remained stable.
Root Cause
Redirect chains combined with mixed canonical signals created inconsistent page identity. Google repeatedly re-crawled legacy URLs, but the final destination pages were not receiving consistent canonical reinforcement or clean internal linking.
Outcome
Priority pages re-entered the index once URL signals were consistent.
Symptoms
- New URLs appeared in Search Console but stayed excluded
- Legacy URLs continued to earn impressions for core queries
- Crawl logs showed repeated hits to legacy URLs with long redirect chains
- Internal links pointed to mixed legacy and new paths
Root Cause
Redirect chains combined with mixed canonical signals created inconsistent page identity. Google repeatedly re-crawled legacy URLs, but the final destination pages were not receiving consistent canonical reinforcement or clean internal linking.
Recommended Fix
- Collapse redirect chains to single-hop 301s for all priority URLs
- Standardise canonical rules to match final destination URLs
- Update internal linking and sitemaps to reference only final URLs
- Run targeted reindex checks on the highest-value templates first
Outcome
Indexation recovered for priority pages once the URL signals were consistent. Crawl activity reduced on legacy paths and discovery shifted to the rebuilt site structure.
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