What to change
Treat the declared preferred address as a dependency that must itself work. Ask the supplier to show its response and content alongside the referring page. If a rename caused the failure, identify the genuine successor before changing the declaration. Add that relationship to routine release validation so a later route change cannot silently break it again. A syntactically valid URL is insufficient acceptance evidence.
A worked example
Illustrative example
Illustrative test: Inspect a guide whose route changed during the latest release rehearsal. A renamed guide may retain its former address as the declared preferred version even after that route is withdrawn. The supplier opens the target, identifies the failure and confirms the genuine current equivalent with the content owner. After correction, the practice reviews both the visible guide and the destination named in its settings. The incident adds a preferred-address check to future renames so the same dependency is not forgotten.
What this means for your practice
A hidden page setting can name an address that has since moved or disappeared. Your supplier may call this a broken preferred destination. In plain terms, the page is pointing search systems towards a preferred version that cannot deliver the intended content. Ask them to open that destination and compare it with the current guide. If a rename caused the issue, identify the genuine successor before changing anything. The homepage is not a suitable automatic replacement for every failure. Add the relationship to release checks so future address changes update both the visible links and the less visible page settings together.
How to check the result
The preferred destination serves the intended content successfully and is eligible under the agreed policy.
A mistake to avoid
Automatically replacing every failed preferred-address setting with the homepage creates false equivalence.
Turn reading into a next step
Your action checklist
Work through these checks with your team or supplier. Tick the ones you have resolved and leave unknowns open.
Record what you know, what is still missing and the answer you need from your team or supplier.
Use project decisions only, without personal, patient or confidential details. Entries stay in this page and are not submitted to Kay & Co. Copy or download before leaving; this page does not save your notes.
Further reading
These sources provide background for the topic. The practice examples and checklist are illustrative planning suggestions from Kay & Co.
Related guides
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