A 4-MINUTE STORY · ILLUSTRATION
The ECO Nobody Routed: a redesign is an engineering change
Every old URL needs a where-used check and a redirect, or the rankings and links tied to it go to scrap.
Tarnwick Heat Treating is an invented commercial heat treater with a handsome new website on the way. Pick the work you want, then scroll. We'll follow one old link the way a buyer at a defense drivetrain supplier follows it.
SCROLL TO READ THE DRAWING ↓
AS SAID · LAUNCH DAY
A handsome new site goes live.
Launch day at Tarnwick Heat Treating. The new website goes live: big photos, a dark theme, a short menu. Everyone agrees it looks better. The change is signed off by design and by the owner, and the old site is switched off the same afternoon.
Nobody asks where the old pages were used.
ILLUSTRATION · INVENTED SHOP · TARNWICK-HT.TEST
NEXT: THE READ ↓THE READ · NEXT MORNING
The old link lands on a 404.
Next morning, a buyer at a defense drivetrain supplier clicks Tarnwick's listing in an association directory. It points at the old vacuum heat-treating page, which now returns a 404. So does the link on a defense prime's approved-processor page, and the one in a trade article. Search engines follow the same links to the same dead end.
“404. Page not found.”
tarnwick-ht.test/services/vacuum-heat-treating.html · illustration
INK: A LINK THAT LANDS · RED DASHED: A LINK THAT ENDS IN A 404 · ILLUSTRATION
NEXT: THE COST ↓THE COST · THREE MONTHS LATER
Nothing looked broken.
Three months later, organic visits are a fraction of what they were. The pages search engines trusted are gone. The new homepage has no H1 and has dropped the words buyers searched: vacuum heat treating, carburizing, AMS 2759/7. Nobody ties the drop to launch day, because nothing looked broken.
THE RANKINGS AND LINKS TIED TO THE OLD PAGE WENT TO SCRAP · ILLUSTRATION
NO REAL TRAFFIC FIGURES · “A FRACTION” IS AN ILLUSTRATION
NEXT: AS BUILT ↓AS BUILT · AN ENGINEERING CHANGE
Obsolete. No supersedure.
The launch was an engineering change. On an ECO form, every old URL is a part being superseded. Run the where-used check and the tree fans out: the directory, the OEM page, the article, the shop's own PDFs and cert files. Each branch turns red. Nobody on the floor would release a change like that.
A redesign supersedes every old URL. The where-used check finds everything still pointing at them.
ECO: ENGINEERING CHANGE ORDER · SUPERSEDURE: THE RECORD OF WHAT REPLACES THE OLD PART · ILLUSTRATION
NEXT: THE CHANGE ↓THE CHANGE · WEBSITES
Route every old URL before launch.
In a redesign, the redirect map is part of the build. We list every old URL, check which ones carry links and rankings, and point each at its closest new page in one hop before launch. The words buyers searched stay on the pages that need them, and we watch for 404s after launch.
BLUEPRINT · PAID ONBOARDING · FIRST STEP OF EVERY PROGRAM
BUILD · NOTHING GOES LIVE WITHOUT YOUR YES
NEXT: RELEASED ↓RELEASED · ILLUSTRATION
Same launch day. Same link.
Same launch day, same directory link. The same buyer lands on the new vacuum heat-treating page, one hop from the old address. Every branch of the where-used tree is re-pointed. The change is released with its supersedure.
“301. One hop to /heat-treating/vacuum/.”
The same link, after release · illustration, not a promise
NO DEAD ENDS · EVERY BRANCH IN ONE HOP · ILLUSTRATION, NOT A PROMISE
AFTER LAUNCH · WE WATCH FOR 404S · NOBODY CAN PROMISE RANKINGS
NEXT: YOUR TURN ↓WHERE THE OLD VACUUM HEAT-TREATING PAGE IS LINKED FROM · ILLUSTRATION
| Linked from | Before launch | Launch day, unrouted | After release |
|---|---|---|---|
| Association directory | Lands on the old page | 404 | One hop to /heat-treating/vacuum/ |
| OEM supplier page | Lands on the old page | 404 | One hop to /heat-treating/vacuum/ |
| Trade article | Lands on the old page | 404 | One hop to /heat-treating/vacuum/ |
| Search result | Ranks for vacuum heat treating | 404, then dropped | One hop to /heat-treating/vacuum/ |
| Capabilities PDF | Lands on the old page | 404 | One hop to /heat-treating/vacuum/ |
| Cert pack PDF | Lands on the old page | 404 | One hop to /heat-treating/vacuum/ |
Route every old URL.
RELEASED WITH SUPERSEDURE · DRAWN FOR DEFENSE WORK · ILLUSTRATION
306 · THE LESSON
A redesign is an engineering change.
Before a new site launches, list every old URL, check what links to it and what it ranks for, and point it at its closest new page in one hop. Then watch for broken links.
Keep the words buyers searched on the pages that need them. A handsome site that drops them says less than the one it replaced.
| LINKED FROM | LAUNCH DAY, UNROUTED | ROUTED |
|---|---|---|
| ASSOCIATION DIRECTORY | 404 | 1 HOP · /heat-treating/vacuum/ |
AN INVENTED SITE · EVERY NAME AND LINK IS INVENTED FOR ILLUSTRATION
General notes
- The companies, people, websites and figures in this story are invented to show a pattern we see often.
- A 301 is a permanent redirect. An ECO is an engineering change order.
- Nobody controls where a search engine ranks a page.
BEHIND THE STORY · Website redesign checklist · Website care, hosting and security · Methodology and sources
YOUR TURN · THREE YES OR NO CHECKS
Check your own
Three yes-or-no checks you can run before your next redesign.
Do you have a list of every URL on your current site?
Including PDFs and cert files.
Does each one have a planned redirect before launch?
One hop, to the closest new page.
Will someone watch for 404s after launch?
Weekly, for three months.
ANSWER ALL THREE · YOUR ANSWERS STAY ON THIS PAGE
Route the change before you release it.