What to change
Treat compatibility as part of the rename rather than a later SEO clean-up. Ask the supplier to list representative owned and external incoming routes, their approved successors and the expected behaviour for unmatched material. Test those old entry points after publication, including important downloads or fragments where relevant. This gives the practice evidence about the visitor journey that actually changed, instead of accepting the release solely because the new page opens correctly.
A worked example
Illustrative example
Illustrative test: An old saved service-related guide link reaches its relevant approved successor. A renamed guide may open correctly at its new address while a link in last month's newsletter fails. The content owner approves the relevant successor and the supplier includes that original incoming route in release checks. Your reviewer follows the newsletter link publicly after publication. This makes compatibility part of the address change itself rather than a later cleanup that depends on visitors reporting broken bookmarks first.
What this means for your practice
A new address can work perfectly while people using old emails, bookmarks or directory links reach a dead end. Treat those incoming journeys as part of the rename. Ask your supplier to list representative old addresses and the intended treatment for each. The content owner should approve real successors and identify material with no appropriate replacement. Include important downloads and section links where they are part of the published journey. After release, test the original links on the public domain. A working new page establishes only one side of the change; the practice also needs evidence about the visitors arriving through references it has already distributed.
How to check the result
The release preserves or clearly handles the sampled incoming journeys.
A mistake to avoid
A working new address says nothing about people using old bookmarks.
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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