Inventory what each domain does
Identify the current brand, former brand, misspellings, country versions and independent products. Record pages still in use and their expected replacements. Do not send an old installation manual to the homepage when its replacement has a specific address. A domain-level decision needs a page-level map.
Choose the appropriate response
Use a permanent redirect for a permanent move to an equivalent page. For duplicate URLs that remain available, state a consistent canonical preference. A useful standalone product site can retain its own address. English and French translations are not the same-language duplicates: each keeps a canonical in its own language and can have reciprocal hreflang links.
Check the whole route
Verify HTTP status, destination, HTTPS and internal links. Replace A → B → C with A → C where appropriate. Update your links and sitemap once a replacement is in place. Pointing DNS at the same server does not itself redirect a browser or consolidate a URL.
- Inventory
- Equivalent
- HTTP response
- Verification
Worked example
When old-example.test becomes new-example.test, /support/installation/ maps to the corresponding installation guide. An obsolete page without an equivalent can return a proper missing-page response rather than forcing every visitor to the homepage.
Make it practical
HTTP response planner
Calculated on your device. Nothing is submitted to a server. Educational examples, without traffic or revenue promises.
Check before moving on
These checkboxes are not saved.
Sources & method
Sources reviewed on 1 October 2026. Worked calculations use explicitly hypothetical inputs.
Topic provenance: Référencement : comment gérer la multiplication des domaines ? (2009-01). Search Engine Feng Shui. Byline retained in the publication feed: fhouste.
This guide is newly written in 2026. It does not reproduce the earlier text and is not attributed to its historical author.