NovA redirect is a claim that the new URL replaces the old one
Sending every removed page to the homepage hides errors without necessarily preserving what the visitor was trying to find.
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A redirect can remove a visible 404 and still leave the user worse off.
For me, a permanent redirect makes a semantic promise: the destination is an appropriate replacement for the old URL. If someone requested a specific guide and lands on the homepage, the server returned something, but the promise was not really kept.
A redirect has to preserve intent across real destinations such as the expert directory or a developer profile; sending everything to the homepage only hides a broken information architecture.
Different removals need different outcomes
A page that moved is straightforward: the old address should lead to the new address for the same content. A pair of merged articles needs a destination that genuinely contains the earlier information. A property that no longer has a meaningful successor may need an archive or a clear missing-page state instead of a generic redirect.
This classification matters more as a site ages. A broad rule such as “send the old section to the new section root” can look efficient while discarding the specific intent of hundreds of URLs.
I am cautious with mass redirect rules for exactly that reason. They optimise the routing table before anyone asks whether the destinations make sense.
Redirect chains turn history into infrastructure
Even a correct redirect becomes awkward when it points to another redirect, which points to another. Each migration adds another historical layer and makes debugging harder.
Once a move is complete, I prefer internal links to use the final destination directly. Redirects should protect old external links, bookmarks and previously indexed URLs; they should not become the normal way the site's own navigation reaches current pages.
Loops and rule collisions are another risk. Two individually reasonable patterns can interact badly when one rewrites a path that the other also matches.
Test the destination as a user would
A technical check can stop at “the old URL returns a redirect and the final page loads”. I add one more question: did the visitor get the closest continuation of what they asked for?
For a moved article, that is the new article. For a renamed profile, it is the same entity under the new route. For a removed listing, there may be no honest substitute.
The purpose of a redirect is not to eliminate every error code. It is to preserve the journey when a meaningful replacement exists.