Website redesign checklist

Introduction

A redesign goes well when you decide what success means before anyone designs anything, protect what already works (pages that rank, convert or get linked to), cut what doesn't, and check everything carefully at launch. Most failed redesigns skipped one of those: they had no baseline to compare against, threw away pages that brought in business, or launched without testing forms, redirects and tracking.

Work through this checklist from top to bottom. It applies whether you're refreshing the design on the same platform or rebuilding from scratch.

Before you start: measure

Enquiries or sales per month from the website, for at least six months.
Conversion rate of your main pages or funnel.
Top pages by traffic, from analytics.
Top pages by search clicks and their queries, from Google Search Console.
Pages other sites link to, from Search Console's Links report.
Mobile speed of your key pages.
What customers and staff complain about.

Save all of it. Without a baseline, nobody can say whether the new site is better.

Decide what success means

Write two or three goals with numbers: more enquiries from service pages, a faster mobile site, fewer support calls about where things are, the ability for staff to publish without a developer. Every design decision gets checked against these.

Keep: what already works

Pages that bring search traffic. Keep their URLs if possible. If URLs must change, each one needs a redirect to its new equivalent.
Content that ranks. Rewriting a page that ranks well can lose its position. Improve it, don't replace it wholesale.
Pages with links from other sites. Those links are valuable; don't let them hit a 404.
Proof: reviews, case studies, client logos, certifications.
Anything customers use: booking, quote forms, downloads, account areas.

Cut: what isn't helping

Pages nobody visits and nobody links to, unless they're needed for legal or practical reasons.
Duplicate or near-duplicate pages competing for the same search.
Outdated news, old offers and services you no longer provide (redirect them to something relevant).
Plugins, scripts and widgets that slow the site without earning their place.
Sliders, auto-playing videos and pop-ups that get in the way.

Plan the new structure before the design

List the pages of the new site and what each one is for.
Draft the menu using your customers' words.
Write, or at least outline, the content for the key pages. Design around real content, not placeholder text.
Map every old URL to a new URL in a spreadsheet: old address, new address, redirect type.

Free quote · reply within 24 hours

Getting visitors but not enquiries?

Send us your site. You get what we'd change first and a fixed written quote within 24 hours.

WhatsApp us

During design and build

Review designs on a phone first, then a laptop.
Build on a staging site that search engines can't index.
Carry over or improve page titles and meta descriptions.
Keep structured data (schema) and add what's missing.
Set up analytics and conversion tracking for forms, calls, WhatsApp clicks and purchases.
Check accessibility basics: contrast, text size, image descriptions, keyboard use.

Launch-day checklist

Remove "noindex" and any staging password protection.
Check robots.txt allows crawling.
Put all redirects live and test a sample of old URLs, especially your top pages.
Submit test enquiries through every form and check they arrive.
Place a test order or booking if the site takes them.
Confirm analytics and conversion tracking record events.
Submit the new sitemap in Search Console.
Check HTTPS works on every version of the address.
Test on real phones, iPhone and Android, on mobile data.

The first month after launch

Watch Search Console daily for the first week: coverage errors, 404s and drops in clicks.
Fix any missed redirects as they appear.
Compare enquiries and conversion rate with your baseline.
Collect feedback from staff and customers and fix the small things quickly.

Some fluctuation in rankings after a redesign is normal and usually settles within weeks if redirects and content are right. For the SEO side of moving URLs in more detail, see our guide to migrating a website without losing rankings. If you're still deciding whether you need a redesign at all, start with signs your website is costing you customers.

Questions we hear during redesigns

How long does a redesign take?

It depends on size and content. Content preparation and approvals usually take longer than the build itself, so start them first.

Should we redesign everything at once?

Not necessarily. Redesigning the highest-value pages first reduces risk and shows results sooner.

Can we keep our old content?

Yes, and often you should, especially pages that rank. Update and improve them rather than starting from a blank page.

Conclusion

The redesigns that go wrong usually skipped the boring first step: writing down what the old site already did well. Do that, and most of the risk goes away.

If you'd like a team that works through this list with you, see our web design services.

Website redesign checklist: what to keep, what to cut and what to measure first