Redirects for Knowledge Base Merges: How to Combine Support Libraries Without Breaking Search Intent

Knowledge base merges are messy by default

When two support libraries merge, you rarely get one neat list of article equivalents. You usually inherit duplicated help topics, overlapping categories, and several versions of the same answer.

The common mistake

Teams route every old article into a broad support homepage or one merged category because it seems simpler than article-level mapping.

Practical approach

Map high-value articles individually, merge duplicates into the strongest canonical destination, and keep category-level redirects only where article-level equivalence does not exist. The goal is to preserve support intent, not just reduce 404 counts.