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Website Redesign Checklist

Checklist

Website Redesign Checklist

What to review before, during and after a website redesign.

Use this checklist to verify redesign decisions before, during and after build. For the reasoning behind each area, see the Website Redesign Guide.

Smartlance Designs·Aug 7, 2026·11 sections · 127 items

Need more context? Read the Complete Website Redesign Guide →

Check items as you review them. Progress stays in this browser only — it is not a measure of overall project completion.

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01Define the Redesign Before Designing It
02Audit the Current Website
03Plan Structure & Content
04Protect SEO
05Plan UX & Design
06Plan Development & Integrations
07Performance & Accessibility
08Analytics & Conversion Tracking
09Pre-Launch QA
10Launch
11Post-Launch Monitoring

Sections

01Define the Redesign Before Designing It
02Audit the Current Website
03Plan Structure & Content
04Protect SEO
05Plan UX & Design
06Plan Development & Integrations
07Performance & Accessibility
08Analytics & Conversion Tracking
09Pre-Launch QA
10Launch
11Post-Launch Monitoring

0 of 127 checked

Section 01

Define the Redesign Before Designing It

Confirm why you are redesigning and what success looks like before visual or technical work begins.

Tip

If the current site feels dated but you are unsure what to change, start with a clear diagnosis of what is outdated — and what still works.

Is Your Website Outdated? →

We have written the primary reason for redesigning in plain language.
Critical
Business goals for the new site are clear and measurable enough to review later.
Critical
Primary visitor actions are defined (enquire, book, buy, contact, or equivalent).
Critical
We know whether this is primarily a refresh, redesign, rebuild, or migration + redesign.
Critical
Priority audiences and the questions they need answered are named.
Out-of-scope work is listed so the project does not quietly expand.
Success signals are agreed (conversion, clarity, speed, editing ease, or search).
Decision-makers and content owners for approvals are identified.
Known constraints are recorded (budget, timeline, platform, brand, legal).

Section 02

Audit the Current Website

Inventory what exists before you redesign, so useful pages, journeys and integrations are not discarded by accident.

Key pages and templates are inventoried (where data is available).
Top landing and organic pages are noted (where analytics data is available).
Current conversion paths are reviewed (where data is available).
Forms, booking tools, CRM links and other integrations are listed.
Important SEO signals are captured (titles, URLs, indexed pages where available).
Known technical issues are listed (speed, broken links, mobile friction, CMS pain).

Preserve What Works

Useful, accurate content that still earns its place is marked to keep.
Valuable URLs are identified for retention or careful redirect planning.
Journeys that already convert well are marked to protect or improve, not reinvent.
Working integrations are documented so they are not broken in the rebuild.
We are not changing everything solely for novelty.

Section 03

Plan Structure & Content

Agree information architecture and content decisions before templates and copy are locked into the new design.

Tip

Use Keep / Improve / Merge / Remove / Redirect for every important page or content group — do not migrate everything by default.

Website Redesign Guide →

A draft sitemap covers primary pages and key supporting content.
Main navigation reflects visitor tasks, not only internal org charts.
Keep / Improve / Merge / Remove / Redirect decisions exist for important content.
URL approach is agreed (retain, tidy, or change with redirects).
Content ownership and approval owners are assigned for key pages.
Primary CTAs are planned for key templates and journeys.
Language or locale structure is planned if the site serves more than one language.
Multi-language

Content Readiness

Copy for launch pages is accurate and matches current offers.
Critical
Testimonials and case proof are verified and approved for use.
Critical
No lorem ipsum or placeholder copy remains on launch pages.
Critical
No fabricated stats, awards or metrics appear anywhere on the site.
Critical

Section 04

Protect SEO

Plan URL continuity, metadata and indexing before launch so search visibility is not lost to avoidable technical gaps.

Avoid

Redirect every old page to the homepage.

Planning a Website Migration →

Important current URLs are inventoried before structure or platform changes.
A redirect map covers changed, merged and removed URLs to relevant destinations.
Critical
High-value URLs are retained where practical instead of changed for cosmetics.
Unique, accurate title tags are planned for key pages.
Meta descriptions are drafted for priority pages (unique where it matters).
Each key page has a clear H1 aligned with the page purpose.
Internal links between related important pages are planned.
Canonical rules are defined for key templates and any duplicate risk.
robots.txt and indexing rules are reviewed for the new environment.
Any noindex use is intentional — staging and accidental blocks are excluded.
Critical
An XML sitemap plan includes indexable launch URLs and excludes junk.
Structured data needs are reviewed for relevant page types.
Broken internal links and orphaned important pages are addressed.
Migration-specific SEO checks cover URL mapping completeness and soft 404 risk.
Migration

Section 05

Plan UX & Design

Design for clarity and action — hierarchy, navigation and consistency matter more than novelty.

Page hierarchy makes the primary message and action obvious first.
Primary CTAs are visually clear and wording matches the intended action.
Typography is readable at body sizes with comfortable line length.
Text and interactive elements meet sensible contrast expectations.
Forms ask only for necessary fields and show clear error guidance.
Buttons, spacing and patterns stay consistent across templates.
Motion respects reduced-motion preferences and does not block content.

Mobile

Primary actions are reachable without awkward zoom or hunt.
Layouts do not cause horizontal overflow on common phone widths.
Forms are usable on mobile with appropriate input types.
Sticky headers, bars or chat widgets do not hide content or CTAs.

Section 06

Plan Development & Integrations

Confirm platform, CMS editing and third-party connections before they become launch blockers.

Platform choice is confirmed with a clear reason to stay or migrate.
CMS content model matches how the team will actually edit pages.
Form submissions route to the correct inbox, CRM or automation.
CRM sync or lead handoff is configured where required.
CRM
Booking or scheduling flows are tested end to end where required.
Booking
Payment and checkout paths are configured and tested where required.
E-commerce
Third-party scripts are listed, justified and loaded intentionally.
A helpful 404 page is ready with paths back to important content.
Redirect rules are prepared in the target hosting or platform setup.

CMS & Editing

Editors can update common content without developer help for routine changes.
Shared components (nav, footer, CTAs) update consistently site-wide.

Section 07

Performance & Accessibility

Aim for a site that feels fast and usable — without treating scores or compliance badges as the whole goal.

Tip

If speed is already a known problem, treat performance as a redesign requirement — not a post-launch tidy-up.

Slow Website? →

Performance

Images are sized, compressed and delivered in modern formats where practical.
Font loading is controlled so text remains readable quickly.
Largest contentful paint candidates (hero media, headings) are optimised for quick visibility.
Important interactions remain responsive (buttons, nav, forms) under normal use.
Layout shift from fonts, images and embeds is controlled on key templates.

Accessibility

Pages use sensible landmarks, headings and semantic HTML.
Meaningful images have useful alt text; decorative images are handled appropriately.
Primary journeys can be completed with a keyboard.
Form fields have visible labels and understandable errors.

Section 08

Analytics & Conversion Tracking

Confirm you can measure the actions that matter — without collecting more personal data than you need.

Primary conversion actions are defined for measurement.
Critical
Analytics property and tags are installed on the new environment.
Form submissions are tracked where forms are a primary action.
Forms as primary action
Booking completions are tracked where booking is a primary action.
Booking
Purchase or checkout events are tracked where commerce is in scope.
E-commerce
Google Search Console (or equivalent) access and property setup are ready.
Tracking avoids collecting unnecessary personal data in events or URLs.
Consent and cookie behaviour match legal requirements for the audience.
Consent required

Section 09

Pre-Launch QA

Test thoroughly before cutover. Useful widths include 1440, 1280, 1024, 768, 430, 390 and 375 — not the only ones that matter. Check current major browsers relevant to your audience.

No placeholder copy, images or "coming soon" blocks remain on launch pages.
Critical
Phone, email, address and social links are correct everywhere they appear.
Critical
Current major browsers relevant to the audience have been spot-checked.
Key templates are checked across useful desktop and mobile widths.

Content

Spelling, grammar and obvious typos are cleaned on priority pages.
Pricing, packages and offer details match what the business will honour.
Images, video and downloads open correctly.

Forms

Contact and enquiry forms submit successfully and notify the right people.
Critical
Required-field and format validation behave as expected.
Booking forms or widgets complete a real test booking where required.
Booking
Checkout and payment test paths complete where required.
E-commerce

SEO

Sample old URLs redirect correctly per the redirect map.
Critical
Titles, meta descriptions and H1s look correct on key pages.
No staging domains, preview URLs or temporary hosts remain in links or canonicals.
Critical
Production is not accidentally noindexed.
Critical

Visual

Spacing, alignment and component consistency look intentional on key pages.
No clipped text, overlapping elements or broken grids on checked widths.

Technical

HTTPS works and mixed-content warnings are cleared on key pages.
Custom 404 responds correctly for unknown paths.
Required third-party integrations still work on the launch candidate.
A pre-launch backup or reference of the current live site is available.

Section 10

Launch

Execute cutover carefully. Confirm redirects, forms, analytics and indexing on the live domain — not only on staging.

Backup or reference of the previous live site is retained for rollback comparison.
Cutover steps and owners are agreed (who does what, in what order).
Domain and DNS changes are planned and verified where required.
Domain or DNS change
Redirects are active on the live domain and sample-checked.
Critical
Forms and critical integrations are retested in production.
Critical
Analytics and conversion events are receiving live traffic.
XML sitemap is live and submitted where Search Console is used.
Search Console property covers the live domain and key checks are started.
Spot-checks confirm expected 200, redirect and 404 status codes.
Production is not accidentally noindexed after cutover.
Critical

Section 11

Post-Launch Monitoring

Watch forms, analytics, errors and feedback after launch. Investigate unexpected changes — do not assume a fixed monitoring window is enough on its own.

Form and lead delivery continue to arrive as expected after launch.
Analytics traffic and conversion events look plausible day to day.
404 patterns are reviewed and missing important URLs are fixed or redirected.
Redirect failures and chains discovered after launch are corrected.
Real-user performance issues on key templates are investigated if reported.
Feedback and launch bugs are collected, prioritised and owned to resolution.
A maintenance owner is clear for content, hosting and ongoing fixes.

Post-Launch SEO

Search Console coverage, sitemap and enhancement reports are reviewed.
Important old and new URLs are spot-checked for indexing and redirects.
Unexpected ranking or traffic changes are investigated — not assumed to be penalties.

Important

A Checklist Can't Decide the Strategy for You

Not every item applies to every website. This checklist is meant to reduce omissions — not replace project-specific judgment. Completing it does not guarantee rankings, accessibility compliance, security, conversion improvement or a perfect launch.

Related Guide

The Complete Website Redesign Guide

Need the reasoning behind the checklist? Read the Guide for strategy, SEO, content and launch decisions.

Platform decision

Still deciding whether the redesign should change platforms?

WordPress vs Webflow →

Website Redesign Checklist: What to Evaluate Before You Rebuild

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Jan 22, 2026 · 2 min read

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What Makes a Website Convert Visitors Into Customers

Practical ways to improve website conversion — clearer offers, stronger trust, better CTAs and less form friction.

Mar 12, 2026 · 2 min read

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SEO

Technical SEO Foundations Every Business Website Needs

Crawlability, indexability, Core Web Vitals, sitemaps and site architecture — the technical SEO basics that support organic visibility.

Feb 18, 2026 · 1 min read

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Website Redesign Checklist

Define the Redesign Before Designing It

Audit the Current Website

Preserve What Works

Plan Structure & Content

Content Readiness

Protect SEO

Plan UX & Design

Mobile

Plan Development & Integrations

CMS & Editing

Performance & Accessibility

Performance

Accessibility

Analytics & Conversion Tracking

Pre-Launch QA

Content

Links

Forms

SEO

Visual

Technical

Launch

Post-Launch Monitoring

Post-Launch SEO

Website Redesign Checklist: What to Evaluate Before You Rebuild

What Makes a Website Convert Visitors Into Customers

Technical SEO Foundations Every Business Website Needs

Useful resources, straight to your inbox

Planning a Website Redesign?

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