Renew or move a website

Moving a website is not just copying files to another server. The domain, DNS, certificates, mail, databases, URLs, redirects, canonicals, forms and external integrations can all be part of the same move.

A content renewal also deserves a migration plan. Especially when URLs change, “put a 302 everywhere” is not a general solution. Temporary and permanent redirects mean different things, and sometimes a period in which old and new URLs coexist is useful.

Nocterra offers a particular option for this: an old URL can internally show the new content while the new URL is declared canonical. That can be useful during a controlled transition.

Questions on this page

When should I use a 301 and when a 302?

A 301 is appropriate when the move should be interpreted as permanent. A 302 says in principle that the other location is temporary. Do not automatically use a 302 as the “safer redirect”; it can give exactly the wrong signal when the new URL is intended to remain the destination.

For a larger migration it can be sensible to check first that the new page is technically and editorially correct, update internal links and the sitemap, and only then enable the final redirect strategy.

Can old and new URLs temporarily show the same content?

Yes, provided it is clear which URL is preferred. The old URL can temporarily show the same current content while a rel="canonical" points to the new URL. This can be useful while search engines still know the old URL and you want to prevent visitors from finding outdated content there.

This is not an excuse for permanent duplication. It is a migration phase in which the canonical, internal links and sitemap should consistently point to the new URL.

How can this work in Nocterra?

Nocterra can use an internal content reference without immediately sending an HTTP redirect to the browser. An old page file can, for example, contain only the following:

<?php
				redirect('/new-url');
			?>

In this form the target page content is used internally and the old URL can return the same current content with a normal 200 response, while Nocterra can use the target URL as canonical. When the move should finally be enforced as an HTTP redirect, REDIRECT_PERMANENT can be used later.

WordPress does not provide exactly this single Nocterra routing function by default. A comparable result can be built with server configuration, theme or plugin logic or custom code; with WordPress you therefore need to check explicitly what the chosen solution actually returns.

What else should I move besides the pages?

Check mail records, SPF/DKIM/DMARC where applicable, certificates, cron jobs, uploads, database encoding, forms, webhooks, robots settings, canonical tags, structured data and external services. Also test from a network whose DNS results are not coming from your own cache.

If a migration shows that someone deliberately does not want to carry the underlying technical administration themselves, the background information on independence and technical continuity may be relevant.

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