Site revision and URL changes

Changing URLs or domains in Baidu requires a formal declaration through the site revision tool, not merely redirects. The declaration is what lets Baidu transfer the relationship quickly instead of rediscovering it.

What counts as a revision

A new domain, a changed URL structure, a directory reorganisation, or a protocol change. In each case the old and new addresses are distinct properties until Baidu is told they are the same site.

The procedure

1. Both old and new addresses added and verified in the platform.
2. 301 redirects, page to corresponding page. Not everything to the home page — that strands users and slows discovery of the new structure.
3. The new URLs reachable, answering 200, not blocked.
4. Submit the revision rule in the tool — as a pattern where the structure maps cleanly, or as pairs where it does not.
5. Push the new URLs actively through the API, and submit the old ones as dead links once the transfer has settled.

Why the declaration matters more here

Index volume drops during any migration, and Baidu names unstandardised URLs as the first cause of index loss. The revision declaration is the mechanism for saying “these are the same pages” before the two sets start competing as duplicates.

What goes wrong

• Redirects to the home page instead of the corresponding page.
• The old domain decommissioned too early — keep the redirects live well beyond the point where traffic appears to have moved.
• Redirect chains, which dilute and delay the transfer.
• Internal links still pointing at old URLs, so every internal click passes through a redirect.
• The revision submitted before the redirects actually work, which wastes the declaration.

The expectation to set

A migration takes weeks to settle and no engine guarantees the same rankings afterwards. Schedule it away from commercially critical periods, and keep the old address answering for as long as the business can bear.