Inventory the URLs that already work
Export the current sitemap, Search Console pages, and any URLs that bring useful queries. Note titles and whether the page is a service, location, article, or utility. That list is the rebuild’s memory.
Decide which URLs stay identical. Stability is cheaper than a clever new folder scheme. Change a slug only when the old path misrepresents the page.
Redirects are delivery, not a favor
Every retired URL needs a single 301 to the closest equivalent, not a chain and not a homepage dump. Test for loops. Update internal links so they point at the final address rather than hopping through the old one.
Canonical tags must agree with that final address, including https and the host you actually serve. A canonical to www while the site lives on the apex splits the signal.
Keep the subject of each important page
If a page ranks for cabinet installation, the replacement should still be about cabinet installation. Merging five service pages into one “what we do” blob makes each query harder to match.
Titles and H1s can be rewritten for clarity. They should not be rewritten into a slogan that no longer names the work.
Publish a clean sitemap on the production host
The XML sitemap should list canonical, indexable URLs on the live domain. Remove staging, thank-you pages you do not want indexed, and anything that still redirects. Submit it after the cutover and watch whether key URLs get discovered.
Multilingual rebuilds need hreflang updated to the new paths in the same release. Leaving old language folders alive beside new ones creates duplicates.
Put the map in the agency scope
Ask who owns the URL spreadsheet, who tests redirects, and who updates Search Console. If a proposal describes the redesign as screens only, the SEO loss is already scheduled.
METEK includes that technical work in rebuilds. Send the current sitemap with the inquiry if you already depend on search traffic.