Google Still Hitting Your Old URLs? What Ecommerce Owners Need to Know After a Migration

Hey there, fellow store owners and ecommerce operators! Let's talk about something that often causes a collective sigh of confusion and frustration: dealing with Google Search Console (GSC) after you've bravely migrated your website. You've done everything by the book – 301 redirects are in place, internal links updated, and your XML sitemap is sparkling clean with only new URLs. Yet, GSC keeps showing those old URLs, sometimes even reporting 'redirect errors' that seem to increase rather than decrease. Sound familiar?

This exact scenario recently popped up in an expert community discussion, with an original poster sharing their bewilderment. They'd just finished a validation, expecting fewer errors, only to see them rise. It's a common pain point, and the insights shared by seasoned pros offer some much-needed clarity.

Understanding Google's Persistence After a Migration

First off, if you're seeing GSC still crawling old URLs, take a deep breath. You're likely not doing anything wrong. As one community member aptly put it, Google will do this 'for ages.' Here’s why and what it means for your Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, Wix, BigCommerce, or PrestaShop store:

1. Redirects Aren't Always 'Errors'

The original poster noted an increase in 'Page with redirect errors.' A key takeaway from the discussion is that the redirect graph in GSC isn't necessarily a list of problems. Instead, it's Google letting you know it's encountering redirects when it visits your old URLs. This is actually a good thing – it means your 301s are working! Google is being successfully redirected from the old path to the new one. The graph will gradually decline as Google 'gets the hint,' but on larger sites, those old URLs might show up for years.

2. Sitemaps are Hints, Not Commands

You've meticulously updated your XML sitemap, but Google still seems to be doing its own thing. Another expert clarified that your sitemap is precisely that: a hint. While crucial for discovery, especially for new or less authoritative sites, Google will independently hunt down and remember every URL it's ever known. It holds onto them unless you explicitly tell it otherwise with a proper redirect or a 'gone permanently' signal.

3. GSC Validation is Reporting, Not Flushing

The original poster mentioned finishing a validation, only to see errors increase. A respondent explained that 'validation' in GSC simply checks the status logs. It doesn't 'flush' Google's systems or perform a deep cleanout. It’s a post-export reporting system, which means you're seeing the current state of Google's persistent crawling, not a reset of its memory.

4. When to Use a 410 (Gone Permanently)

While 301 redirects are perfect for moved content, what about pages that are truly gone and won't be replaced? One contributor suggested marking such pages as '410'. A 410 (Gone) status code tells search engines that the page is permanently unavailable and should be de-indexed faster than a 404 (Not Found) or even a 301 for non-existent content. Use this carefully for discontinued products or old promotional pages that have no new equivalent.

5. Don't Panic About 'Errors'

Finally, a reassuring point: having these 'redirect errors' or even a few 'crawled but currently not indexed' pages doesn't necessarily detract from your site's authority or penalize your SEO. Google understands that websites evolve. Your focus should be on ensuring your *new* URLs are healthy, crawlable, and delivering value.

What You Should Do: Actionable Advice for Store Owners

• Be Patient: This is the biggest one. Google's processes are vast and can be slow. Your diligent 301 redirects are working, even if GSC takes time to reflect a complete drop-off of old URLs.
• Maintain Your 301s: Keep those redirects in place for a significant period – at least a year, often longer for high-traffic old URLs.
• Strategic 410s: For pages that are truly obsolete and have no new equivalent, consider implementing 410 status codes. This tells Google they're gone for good.
• Monitor Beyond GSC Reports: If you have access to server logs, occasionally checking them can give you a clearer picture of what Googlebot is actually hitting.
• Focus on Your New Site's Health: Ensure your new internal linking structure is robust, content is high-quality, and user experience is top-notch. While Google slowly processes these backend changes, your focus should remain on delivering an excellent customer experience on your new site. This includes optimizing your product pages, ensuring your checkout flow is seamless, and actively promoting things like Wix repeat customer offers to keep your existing customer base engaged and coming back.
• Regular Sitemap Submissions: Continue to submit updated sitemaps whenever significant changes occur, reinforcing your new structure.

EShopSet Team Comment

This discussion perfectly highlights a common challenge for store owners post-migration: the perceived disconnect between their actions and Google's reported status. We wholeheartedly agree with the emphasis on patience and understanding that GSC reports are diagnostic, not punitive. For store owners, having robust SEO monitoring and site health apps within an integrated platform like EShopSet can provide clearer, actionable insights, helping you differentiate between a working redirect and a genuine problem, and manage your sitemaps and crawl budgets effectively.

Ultimately, managing your store's SEO after a migration is a marathon, not a sprint. Your efforts to establish proper redirects and update your site structure are sound. Continue to monitor, but don't let GSC's lagging reports distract you from building a thriving, customer-focused store on your new platform.