Here’s where things start to get ugly. Let’s say you’ve made a site-wide URL change, such as switching from http→https, updating your sub-folder structure, or adding/removing URL parameters. This change impacts most or all of the pages on your site, but we’re going to assume that your root domain and sub-domain structure are staying the same.
If you’re reversing a change like http→https because it didn’t do what you had hoped (i.e. you didn’t get a ranking boost), then let me take a moment to urge you to reconsider. All site-wide URL changes are risky, and a reversal is going to confuse the signals even more. You could easily compound your problems.
Noting all of those warnings, here are the key steps:
- Remove all 301-redirects from A→B
- Add site-wide 301-redirects from B→A
- Add self-referencing canonical to all pages
- Re-point internal links to “A-type” URLs
- Re-build XML sitemap(s) for A-type URLs
- Submit critical pages to Google Search Console (GSC)
- Re-point select inbound links to “A-type” URLs
Google Search Console seems to have some limits on how many pages you can submit (it appears that limit varies by site in the new version), and there’s currently no easy mass-submission process, so focus on high-authority pages and pages that are higher in the internal linking structure. This is should encourage Google to re-crawl lower pages as well, at least to some degree.
For a site-wide change, especially given the risks involved, it’s also worth reaching out to authoritative inbound/external links and asking people to re-point those links to the original, A-type URLs. This is ultimately a link outreach task and requires some delicacy. Focus on quality over quantity and on sites that you have a good relationship with – even re-pointing a few high-authority links can help boost your new signals.
Like any mass-redirect, plan well and document thoroughly. People invest a lot of time and money in changes, but then often rush reversals, usually because they’re over-reacting. A site-wide reversal is just as dangerous as the original change, and probably even more so. Making this kind of change in a panic is an invitation to disaster.
