Website Redesign Checklist: Before You Rebuild
In a few weeks, a website redesign can give a business a whole new look. However, it’s not just a matter of a new look.
Sometimes, the design could actually negatively impact the URLs and eliminate pages that will generate search traffic, and sometimes it will simply create a new set of problems with the navigation.
That is why you need to have a website redesign checklist that is more than just colors and home page designs. Analyze and assess what is functioning, determine what changes need to be made, maintain SEO, test the new experience, and monitor the website after launch.
Before the Redesign: Know What You Are Changing and Why
1. Define the reason for the redesign
Start with the problem.
Does the present website need to be updated? Does it have a complicated user interface for mobile devices? Has the business undergone change? Do the visitors reach the site but not get in touch with you? Are the site maintenance requirements becoming challenging?
Your answer should influence the redesign. For instance, a company with good traffic and bad leads might need to work on the messaging, page structure, trust signals, and calls to action, rather than just a change in its visual style.
When you struggle to establish a broader context, WP Minds’ WordPress design and development services can help bridge the gap between value, search engine optimization, and business objectives.
2. Review your current website data
Before replacing anything, find out what the existing website is doing well.
Review:
- Most visited pages
- Pages generating leads or sales
- Organic search traffic
- Top landing pages
- Popular blog posts
- Important backlinks
- Form submissions
- Conversion paths
- Mobile performance
This prevents a common redesign mistake: removing something valuable simply because it does not look important.
3. Create a URL and page inventory
Make a list of the current pages and URLs before development begins.
Mark which pages will:
- Stay as they are
- Be rewritten
- Be merged
- Move to a new URL
- Be removed
- Need a replacement
If a valuable page moves, plan its redirect before launch rather than discovering the problem after traffic has dropped.
4. Review the website architecture
Examine the relationships between your pages.
Are visitors able to locate your primary services easily? Are critical pages found deep within the site? Is the navigation based on what the business currently provides?
A redesign is a great time to address the issue of structure, rather than continuing with a current structure that will be transferred to a new design. In our WordPress Website Architecture Best Practices Guide, we’ll explain the relationship between page hierarchy, navigation, internal links and URLs.
5. Decide what happens to your content
Do not automatically copy every old page into the new website.
Review the content and decide what should be:
- Kept
- Updated
- Combined
- Rewritten
- Removed
Look particularly closely at pages with strong search traffic, backlinks, or conversions.
A redesign should make the content easier to understand, not simply move the same clutter into a new template.
During the Redesign: Build Around the User
6. Plan the user journey before finalizing the design
Ask questions about each of the key pages:
What information would the visitor need to learn and what should they do next here?
A service page could be followed by a consultation, an education article could be followed by a guide, and a product page could lead to a purchase. Those journeys should be supported by internal links and calls to action.
See the Website Conversion Funnel: How to Convert Visitors to Customers for a more detailed explanation on how pages work together.
7. Wireframe important pages first
Before working on the visual details, sketch the structure.
Wireframes can assist you with identifying the areas for the headline, supporting details, proof, calls to action, forms, and more crucial components.
It’s much easier to change this when you’re on the wireframe stage than when the page has been fully designed. Our website wireframe examples will explain how to use wireframes to structure your website, organize the content, navigate, and plan conversion.
8. Check mobile as a primary experience
Do not wait until the end to see how the redesign looks on a phone.
Check:
- Navigation
- Font sizes
- Button placement
- Forms
- Images
- Spacing
- Sticky elements
- Page speed
A design that looks excellent on a large monitor can become frustrating on a small screen.
9. Make conversion paths obvious
Look at the main actions for key pages.
Are the CTAs clear? Is there too much conflict between the actions? Is it a form that requests data that you don’t need?
For example, Wikipedia’s traffic is going fine, but it is not getting any enquiries, so redesign the journey, not just the interface.
10. Check accessibility and readability
Check color contrasts, text size, keyboard navigation, alternative text for images, form labels, focus state, and other issues.
Accessibility must be a factor in design and development as early in the process as possible and not a last-minute addition.
Before Launch: Protect SEO and Functionality
11. Prepare your redirects
This deserves special attention.
If /old-service-page/ becomes /services/new-service/, the old URL should not simply disappear.
Create the appropriate redirect and test it.
Also check internal links, canonical URLs, XML sitemaps, navigation links, and other references to URLs that changed.
12. Test every important function
Do not stop when the homepage looks good.
Test:
- Contact forms
- Booking forms
- Search
- Menus
- Buttons
- Ecommerce functionality
- Login or membership areas
- Email notifications
- Third-party integrations
- Videos
- Downloads
- Tracking codes
Submit forms yourself, test them on mobile, and check that notifications actually arrive. A broken form can cost more than an imperfect design.
13. Check speed and technical performance
Test key pages on desktop and mobile devices.
Check sizes of images, scripts, fonts, plugins, caching, etc., to ensure that these do not slow down the new site.
If you are having issues with images and performance, read WP Minds’ article on 10 WordPress Image Optimization Techniques for problems with images.
14. Test the new website on real devices and browsers
Check the site in the browsers and devices your visitors actually use.
Look for:
- Layout problems
- Overlapping elements
- Broken menus
- Form issues
- Missing images
- Mobile-specific bugs
A staging site lets you test the new website without disrupting the live one.
Launch Day: Use a Final Website Redesign Checklist
Before switching the new site live, confirm:
- Backups are complete
- SSL is working
- Redirects are active
- Important pages are accessible
- Forms are working
- Analytics and tracking are installed
- Search engine indexing settings are correct
- XML sitemap is available
- Internal links work
- Images load correctly
- Key conversion paths have been tested
Launch is not the end. It is when real users start testing your decisions.
After Launch: Monitor What Actually Happens
The first version of a redesign is not automatically the final one.
Watch for changes in:
- Organic traffic
- Top landing pages
- Leads and sales
- Form completion
- Mobile engagement
- Page exits
- Search visibility
Compare these results with the old site and the goals you set before the redesign. If traffic drops, investigate redirects, indexing, changed URLs, internal links, and technical issues before assuming the redesign itself is the problem.
Should You Redesign Everything?
Not always.
Sometimes, it’s because of a slow website, weak content, confusing navigation, poor conversion paths or an outdated theme. A targeted enhancement might be enough to resolve the issue, without a comprehensive redesign.
If you are thinking of redesigning, our article Website Redesign Strategy: Improve SEO, UX & Conversions might be able to help you determine what should change, what should stay and what you need to do in an effective and strategic way.
A Successful Redesign Is About More Than a New Look
A successful redesign isn’t the time that your existing website is taken down and a new website is up and running.
It’s about making the site more usable, understandable, discoverable and more helpful to the business.
Don’t redesign before you know what works. Throughout the project, keep the visitor journey in mind when building. Secure URLs, SEO, functionality and data before launch. Once launched, observe the behaviour of real visitors and use this to make improvements to the site.
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