A practical checklist before you redesign your website

A website redesign can lift enquiries, sharpen your brand and make your site easier to run. Done carelessly, it can also lose search rankings and break things that worked. Use this checklist before you start.

What should you do before a redesign starts?

• Define the goal. More enquiries, more sales, a better brand impression or easier updates? Pick the one that matters most.
• Collect your numbers. Note current traffic, top pages and enquiry volume so you can measure improvement.
• List what works. Pages that rank, content people read and features customers use should be protected.
• Gather feedback. Ask customers and your team what is confusing or missing today.

What should you plan during a redesign?

• Audit your content. Decide what to keep, update, merge or remove.
• Plan your structure. Map the sitemap around what customers look for, not your internal departments.
• Choose the platform deliberately. Do not switch platforms by habit. Choose the one your team can run confidently.
• Prepare proof. Collect testimonials, case studies and examples of work early.

What must you check before launch?

• Set up redirects. Every old URL that changes should point to its new equivalent.
• Test forms and checkout. Submit every form and complete a test purchase.
• Check mobile. Test on real phones, not just a resized browser.
• Check speed and SEO basics. Page titles, descriptions, headings and image sizes.

What should you do after launch?

• Monitor search performance for the first few weeks and fix any crawl errors quickly.
• Compare against your baseline to see whether the redesign achieved its goal.
• Keep improving. A website is never finished. Small, regular improvements beat a redesign every few years.

Not sure a redesign is needed? Read seven signs your website is costing you leads, or see our website redesign service.