Website redesign
Website redesign checklist: what to fix before you change the visual style.
A redesign is an opportunity to improve positioning, site structure, mobile UX, performance, conversion paths, and technical SEO at the same time. It is also an easy way to lose useful URLs, content, and search visibility if the migration is treated as an afterthought.
Clarify the reason for the redesign
Write down what is failing today: outdated positioning, weak conversion, poor mobile UX, difficult editing, slow performance, inconsistent branding, search decline, or a business that has changed.
Inventory existing pages
List current URLs, purpose, search traffic when available, backlinks, conversions, and whether each page should stay, merge, improve, redirect, or disappear.
Rebuild information architecture
Design navigation and page hierarchy around current offers and buyer questions instead of preserving old sections because they already exist.
Use real content in design
Headlines, proof, FAQs, pricing context, forms, and product detail affect layout. Designing around placeholder copy hides the content problems a redesign should solve.
Design mobile states deliberately
Test menus, long headings, tables, forms, sticky elements, interactive demos, and calls to action at real phone widths.
Plan forms and contact paths
Decide what information is genuinely required, how errors are shown, where submissions go, how duplicates and spam are handled, and what happens after success.
Protect search signals
Preserve useful URLs, map redirects, update canonicals, retain relevant content, review internal links, and generate an accurate sitemap before launch.
Validate production, not just staging
Check redirects, forms, analytics, metadata, indexation rules, mobile behaviour, performance, and key journeys on the real domain after release.
Migration essentials
01
URLs
Keep useful routes stable where possible and map every necessary change.
02
Content
Preserve useful intent and context even when the wording and design improve.
03
Signals
Update canonicals, structured data, internal links, robots rules, metadata, and sitemap coverage.
04
Monitor
Watch Search Console, analytics, forms, crawl behaviour, and priority queries after launch.
FAQ
Should a redesign keep the same URLs?
Keep useful URLs when they still make sense. If a URL genuinely needs to change, plan a redirect to the closest relevant replacement and update internal links, canonicals, and sitemap entries.
Should old content be copied into the new site?
Not automatically. Preserve useful information and search-relevant pages, but remove duplication, outdated claims, dead sections, and content that no longer matches the business.
When should SEO be considered in a redesign?
Before the new information architecture is finalized. SEO migration is much safer when URL decisions, internal links, metadata, content consolidation, and redirects are planned alongside design.
How do you know if a redesign worked?
Measure the outcomes that motivated it: clearer conversion paths, form completion, lead quality, search visibility, performance, engagement with important pages, support questions, or product understanding.