Before development finishes
Export important URLs and record their content purpose, status and search value. Map each retained or moved page to a relevant destination; do not send every removed URL to the homepage.
Before switching traffic
Check the new site's crawl controls, canonical URLs, titles, structured data and internal links. Confirm that staging restrictions will not accidentally block the live release.
At cutover
Apply direct redirects, update navigation and publish a sitemap containing canonical live pages. Test important old and new URLs from outside the hosting environment.
After launch
Monitor errors, indexing and traffic with the available search tools. Keep a record of intentional removals and investigate unexpected losses. Search engines may take time to process the move, and stable traffic is not guaranteed.