Best redirect destination for 18k highly-linked pages

[davidvogel]

Technical SEO question regarding redirects; I appreciate any insights on best way to handle.

Situation: We're decommissioning several major content sections on a website, comprising ~18k webpages. This is a well established site (10+ years) and many of the pages within these sections have high-quality inbound links from .orgs and .edus.

Challenge: We're trying to determine the best place to redirect these 18k pages.

For user experience, we believe best option is the homepage, which has a statement about the changes to the site and links to the most important remaining sections of the site. It's also the most important page on site, so the bolster of 301 redirected links doesn't seem bad.

However, someone on our team is concerned that that many new redirected pages and links going to our homepage will trigger a negative SEO flag for the homepage, and recommends instead that they all go to our custom 404 page (which also includes links to important remaining sections).

What's the right approach here to preserve remaining SEO value of these soon-to-be-redirected pages without triggering Google penalties?

[CloutsySMM]

@davidvogel said in Best redirect destination for 18k highly-linked pages:

Technical SEO question regarding redirects; I appreciate any insights on best way to handle.

Situation: We're decommissioning several major content sections on a website, comprising ~18k webpages. This is a well established site (10+ years) and many of the pages within these sections have high-quality inbound links from .orgs and .edus.

Challenge: We're trying to determine the best place to redirect these 18k pages.

For user experience, we believe best option is the homepage, which has a statement about the changes to the site and links to the most important remaining sections of the site. It's also the most important page on site, so the bolster of 301 redirected links doesn't seem bad.

However, someone on our team is concerned that that many new redirected pages and links going to our homepage will trigger a negative SEO flag for the homepage, and recommends instead that they all go to our custom 404 page (which also includes links to important remaining sections).

What's the right approach here to preserve remaining SEO value of these soon-to-be-redirected pages without triggering Google penalties?

If redirecting each page contextually isn’t feasible, consider a blended approach. Redirect the most valuable or relevant pages to closely related section pages, and direct the remainder to a custom 404 page. This preserves link equity for high-value pages while reducing the likelihood of “soft 404” issues or other penalties.

[yamanmajid34]

@davidvogel said in Best redirect destination for 18k highly-linked pages:

Technical SEO question regarding redirects; I appreciate any insights on best way to handle.

Situation: We're decommissioning several major content sections on a website, comprising ~18k webpages. This is a well established site (10+ years) and many of the pages within these sections have high-quality inbound links from .orgs and .edus.

Challenge: We're trying to determine the best place to redirect these 18k pages.

For user experience, we believe best option is the homepage, which has a statement about the changes to the site and links to the most important remaining sections of the site. It's also the most important page on site, so the bolster of 301 redirected links doesn't seem bad.

However, someone on our team is concerned that that many new redirected pages and links going to our homepage will trigger a negative SEO flag for the homepage, and recommends instead that they all go to our custom 404 page (which also includes links to important remaining sections).

What's the right approach here to preserve remaining SEO value of these soon-to-be-redirected pages without triggering Google penalties?
When dealing with redirects for a site decommission, it’s important to keep SEO value intact. Redirecting all pages to a single destination like the homepage can be tempting, but search engines, including Google, may treat mass redirects to one page as a soft 404, which could diminish SEO strength. A more effective approach would be to redirect each section to the most relevant remaining pages. For instance, if you’re managing content related to video editing software like PowerDirector or Filmora, redirecting each page to an active section on similar video editing tips or resources would make sense. This way, you’re distributing link equity across relevant content and providing users with pages that align with their intent. A custom 404 page with helpful links is a good fallback option for pages without a suitable match.