Optimizing URL Structure: Handling Old URLs with Google

TL;DR

Don't use GSC Removals tool for URL structure changes - Using the Removals tool when redirecting URLs could cause old URLs to disappear while new ones take longer to get indexed, resulting in worse traffic during the transition.
Create a temporary XML sitemap of old URLs instead - Upload a sitemap with old URLs to GSC for 1-2 months so Google crawls them, finds the redirects, and transfers equity from old to new URLs more quickly.
Removals tool is for emergency situations only - The tool should be reserved for legal takedown requests or accidentally published content, not for normal URL migrations with redirects in place.

Casey Yandle

Nov 20, 2025, 6:43 PM

when you all update a website's URL structure (say everything resolving in the root to using parent/child url structure), is part of your process to use the Removals tool within GSC to remove the old URLs?

Shawn Huber

Nov 20, 2025, 7:06 PM

As long as they aren't a 200 status code, that would speed up how quickly Google removes them from the index.

Since it is a temporary removal, if the pages come back as a 200 status, then they can be re-indexed.

Tory Gray

Nov 20, 2025, 7:25 PM

I don’t - instead, with link changes at scale like this, we’re more likely to make a static XML sitemap of the old URLs.

Then upload that to GSC for 1-2 months until google crawls them all, finds the redirects, and flushes the old URLs out & the new ones in.

(…. make sure the redirects are working prior to doing so. And, remove this file when you are done, from GSC, so your sitemap issue % doesn’t stay high)

This serves to ensure that google finds all the urls and more quickly moves any equity from one url vs. the other - vs. just getting them out.

AKA: a positive benefit, and not JUST solving the negative issue.

???? 1 ☝️ 1 ☝️ 1 ☝️ 1

Casey Yandle

Nov 20, 2025, 7:28 PM

Thanks! @user @user Had a consult tell me that was best practice.

❤️ 1

Tory Gray

Nov 20, 2025, 7:34 PM

totes.

your approach is worth testing? but I’d be careful where you do it - in case.

because I think a likely result COULD be that old URLs get removed, and new URLs still take time to show up. (maybe even longer, if the bots assume that the removal request means that you don’t value those pages.)

which would be net worse for traffic (via redirects from the old ranking urls) in the meantime!

Casey Yandle

Nov 20, 2025, 7:47 PM

@user that was my thinking as well; the way he wanted to do it is not how we typically approach it because of the risk; we typically will do something like you mentioned.

???? 1

Tory Gray

Nov 20, 2025, 8:03 PM

I mean… it is interesting.

I do want to know if/how it works out!

I also do not want to test that out myself (ha)

:rolling_on_the_floor_laughing: 1

Shawn Huber

Nov 20, 2025, 8:19 PM

I misunderstood your ask - if you don't care about redirecting URLs - you just need to have URLs removed, maybe for legal reasons, or accidentally published something, then temp removal works as I stated.

Tory is absolutely correct on this

❤️ 1

Casey Yandle

Nov 20, 2025, 8:22 PM

@user yeah, we always redirect the urls; I just have never removed the old urls from Google Removals just because the url structure changed.

Shawn Huber

Nov 20, 2025, 8:23 PM

I wouldn't either :rollingonthefloorlaughing:

Shawn Huber

Nov 20, 2025, 8:24 PM

I worked at a legal tech startup that had court cases/documents that we'd receive take down requests all the time, so we'd use that to get the URLs removed

:100: 2

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