Website Redesign Checklist: Everything You Need Before You Start

You’ve decided your website needs a redesign. Maybe it looks dated, loads slowly, or just isn’t bringing in leads like it used to. Whatever the reason — the instinct to rebuild is right. But most redesigns fail not because of bad design, but because of bad planning.

This checklist covers everything you need to do before a single pixel gets moved, so your new site launches better than the old one on every metric that matters.

Phase 1: Define Your Goals

Before anything else, get specific about why you’re redesigning.

A redesign without goals is just an expensive facelift. You need measurable outcomes to guide every decision.

Ask yourself:

What’s the primary problem with the current site? (Looks, speed, conversions, SEO, all of the above?)
What does success look like in 6 months? (More leads, lower bounce rate, faster load time?)
Who is the primary audience — and has that audience changed since you last built the site?
Are there new products, services, or positioning you need the site to reflect?

Write these down. Share them with your designer or agency. These become the brief.

Phase 2: Audit What You Have

Don’t throw everything away. Some parts of your current site are working — and you need to know which ones before you redesign.

Analytics audit

What pages get the most traffic? (Keep these, improve them)
Where are visitors dropping off?
What’s your current conversion rate on key pages?
Which traffic sources are sending the highest quality visitors?

SEO audit

What keywords are you currently ranking for?
Which pages have backlinks pointing to them? (Don’t kill these URLs without a redirect plan)
What’s your current Domain Authority and page-level rankings?
Are there technical SEO issues already hurting you?

Content audit

List every page: what’s worth keeping, what needs a rewrite, what can be cut?
Flag any content that’s outdated, off-brand, or simply not performing

UX audit

Record real sessions using a tool like Hotjar or Microsoft Clarity
Where do users click? Where do they get stuck?
Are there form abandonment issues or confusing navigation patterns?

Phase 3: Competitive Research

Look at 3–5 competitors or aspirational brands in your space.

You’re not copying them — you’re understanding the visual and structural language your audience already expects, then finding where you can stand out.

What messaging do competitors lead with?
How do they structure their service/product pages?
What CTAs are they using?
What do they do better than you? What do they do worse?

Phase 4: Technical Requirements

This is the part most people skip — and it causes the most pain later.

Hosting and infrastructure

Where will the site be hosted? Is it fast enough for your expected traffic?
Do you need a CMS? Which one — and who will manage content after launch?
Are there integrations required? (CRM, booking system, live chat, analytics, e-commerce?)

Performance benchmarks

Set a target load time (aim for under 2.5 seconds on mobile)
Decide on image formats (WebP is standard now)
Will you use a CDN?

Security

SSL certificate in place
Contact forms protected from spam
Sensitive data handled properly (especially for any e-commerce or lead capture)

Phase 5: Information Architecture

Before design, map the structure of the new site.

A sitemap sounds boring but it’s one of the highest-leverage things you can do. It forces you to make decisions about what matters before the design phase locks things in.

Create a sitemap

List every page the new site will have
Group pages logically by purpose or audience
Identify which pages need the most conversion focus

Keep primary navigation to 5–7 items max
Think about mobile navigation — hamburger menus bury content
Plan footer links separately from main nav

Map user journeys

How does a first-time visitor discover you?
What’s the path from homepage to contact/purchase?
Are there different journeys for different audience types?

Phase 6: Content Strategy

Content should be written before design, not after. This is the rule most projects ignore — and why so many sites launch with placeholder copy that never gets replaced.

Core pages to write first:

Homepage (most important — get the messaging right)
Services or product pages (these convert)
About page (builds trust)
Contact page (remove friction here)

SEO considerations

Research keywords for each core page before writing
Write title tags and meta descriptions as part of the content process
Plan internal linking between related pages

Brand voice

Is the tone of your copy consistent with your visual brand?
Are you writing for humans or for search engines? (The answer should be humans first)

Need help nailing your messaging? Our branding services include brand voice development so your copy and visual identity actually match.

Phase 7: Design Direction

Now — finally — design.

By this point you’ve done enough groundwork that design decisions have a clear brief to work from. This is how good agencies operate.

Visual direction

Gather inspiration references (3–5 sites you admire, with notes on why)
Confirm brand assets: logo files, color palette, typography
Decide on photography style — real photos, illustrations, or a mix?

Mobile-first design

Over 60% of web traffic is mobile. Design for mobile first, then scale up
Test every interactive element on thumb-reach zones
Simplify on mobile — don’t just shrink the desktop layout

Accessibility

Minimum 4.5:1 contrast ratio for text
All images need alt text
Forms need labels (not just placeholder text)
Keyboard navigation should work throughout

Phase 8: Pre-Launch QA

Don’t skip this phase in the rush to go live.

Technical checks

Test every page on mobile, tablet, and desktop
Test in multiple browsers (Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge)
Check all forms — do submissions actually land somewhere?
Verify all links (no 404s)
Confirm page speed scores (use Google PageSpeed Insights)
Check that analytics tracking is firing correctly

SEO checks

All redirects from old URLs are in place (301 redirects)
Meta titles and descriptions set for every page
Sitemap submitted to Google Search Console
No pages accidentally set to noindex

Content checks

No placeholder text left anywhere
All images have alt text
Phone numbers and addresses are correct
Legal pages (privacy policy, terms) are up to date

Phase 9: Post-Launch

Launching is not finishing. The first 30 days after launch are critical.

Monitor Search Console for crawl errors
Watch analytics for unexpected traffic drops
Check that conversion tracking is working accurately
Gather early user feedback

Set a calendar reminder to review performance at 30, 60, and 90 days post-launch. This is when you catch issues that weren’t visible at launch.

Ready to Redesign?

A website redesign done right isn’t just a visual refresh — it’s a strategic investment that pays back in better rankings, more leads, and a brand presence you’re proud to send people to.

If you’re planning a redesign and want a team that handles strategy, design, development, and SEO together, our web design services are built exactly for this. We don’t just make sites look good — we make them work.

Get in touch and tell us what’s not working about your current site. We’ll take it from there.