Website redesign checklist: 28 steps to launch

A website redesign runs in four stages: before (decide what the site must do and record what you have), during (structure, design and content), launch (redirects, domain, sitemap, testing) and after (watch traffic and keep the site current). Most problems come from skipping the first and last stages. This checklist has 28 steps across the four, with a table at the end to tick off.

Before you start

The work you do before anyone designs anything decides whether the redesign keeps what already works.

1. Write down why you're redesigning

One or two sentences. "Parents can't find our fees on a phone." "We opened a second clinic and the site still lists one." A clear reason settles later arguments about colours and layouts.

2. Pick two or three numbers to improve

Enquiries a month, phone clicks, search clicks, page speed. Record today's value for each so you can compare after launch.

3. Measure your current speed

Run your home page and one or two key pages through PageSpeed Insights on mobile and note the performance score and LCP (how long the main content takes to show). web.dev says sites "should strive to have Largest Contentful Paint of 2.5 seconds or less" (web.dev).

4. Export your search data

In Google Search Console's Performance report, export pages and queries for the longest period available (Search Console Help). This shows which pages bring visitors and for which searches.

5. List every URL

From your sitemap and a crawl of the site. Mark the pages with clicks and the pages other sites link to. These are the ones you must not lose. Website redesign SEO covers this in detail.

6. Take an inventory of your content

For each page: keep, rewrite, merge or delete. Note what's missing, such as a page for each service or location, team profiles, or answers to the questions customers ask on the phone.

7. Gather your facts

Phone numbers, addresses, opening hours, prices, qualifications. Old sites often disagree with themselves. Settle each fact once, now.

8. Collect your brand assets

Logo files, colours, fonts and photos. If you like your look, say so: a redesign doesn't have to mean a new identity.

9. Choose who does it and set a budget

DIY on a builder, a freelancer, an agency or an AI tool. Prices and timelines differ by an order of magnitude; see website redesign cost.

During the redesign

10. Plan the structure

Decide the pages and the menu. Keep the addresses of pages that earn traffic. Where an address must change, write the new one next to the old one in your URL list.

11. Agree the design direction

A short written brief beats a long meeting: what's special about the business, who the site is for, the look, the pages. Approve a first look at the home page before the whole site is built.

12. Move and improve the content

Keep the wording that ranks (check your query export) and the details customers need. Improve weak pages on purpose, one by one.

13. Write titles and descriptions

A descriptive title for every page, under 60 characters including the site name, and a 140-160 character description. No two pages should share either.

14. Keep or add structured data

Business details, locations, services, FAQs and articles described in the format search engines read. Check key pages in Google's Rich Results Test, which Google calls "an easy and useful tool for validating your structured data" (Google Search Central).

15. Check every page on a phone

Menus, buttons, tables and forms. Many visitors will only ever see the phone version.

16. Check accessibility basics

Readable text contrast, alt text on meaningful images, headings in order, forms that can be filled in with a keyboard.

17. Set up forms and contact routes

Every form should reach a real inbox. Test each one with a real message.

18. Review every page before launch

Read every page once, top to bottom. Check names, numbers and prices against your facts list from step 7.

Launch

19. Set up redirects

Every old address that changed gets a permanent (301) redirect to its new page, pointing straight at the final address. Google's site-move guide says to keep redirects "for as long as possible, generally at least 1 year" (Google Search Central).

20. Update internal links

Menu, footer, buttons and links within the text should use the new addresses directly.

21. Connect your domain and check HTTPS

Make sure only one version of the site is live, and that the others (with and without www, the builder's own address) redirect to it.

22. Submit the sitemap

Submit the new sitemap in Search Console. Google calls it "merely a hint", but it helps discovery (Google Search Central).

23. Update links you control elsewhere

Google Business Profile, social profiles, directories, email signatures and ads.

24. Test the live site

Open your top 20 old URLs; each should land on the right page in one step. Send a test enquiry through every form.

After launch

25. Watch Search Console weekly

Compare clicks for your important pages with your pre-launch export. For medium-sized sites Google says "it can take a few weeks or more" to show the new addresses (Google Search Central).

26. Fix "not found" errors

Check the page indexing report for errors. Most are missing redirects.

27. Measure again

Re-run PageSpeed Insights and compare your two or three numbers from step 2 after a month.

28. Keep the site current

New services, staff changes, prices, articles. A site that is updated in small steps doesn't need another big redesign so soon.

The checklist table

#	Stage	Task
1	Before	Write down why you're redesigning
2	Before	Pick 2-3 numbers and record today's values
3	Before	Measure page speed (PageSpeed Insights)
4	Before	Export Search Console pages and queries
5	Before	List every URL; mark ranking and linked pages
6	Before	Content inventory: keep, rewrite, merge, delete
7	Before	Settle phone, address, hours, prices
8	Before	Collect logo, colours, fonts, photos
9	Before	Choose who does it and set a budget
10	During	Plan pages, menu and URL changes
11	During	Agree a design brief and first look
12	During	Move and improve content
13	During	Titles and descriptions on every page
14	During	Structured data checked
15	During	Every page checked on a phone
16	During	Accessibility basics
17	During	Forms tested
18	During	Every page read against the facts
19	Launch	301 redirects for changed URLs
20	Launch	Internal links updated
21	Launch	Domain connected, HTTPS, one version live
22	Launch	Sitemap submitted
23	Launch	External profiles updated
24	Launch	Old URLs and forms tested on the live site
25	After	Search Console checked weekly
26	After	"Not found" errors fixed
27	After	Speed and goals measured again
28	After	Content kept current

How Firetend handles the checklist

If you redesign with Firetend, several steps are done for you:

Steps 6 to 8: the design agent reads your current site for services, locations, team and wording, and Keep my look, make it much better keeps your colours, logo and feel. The design brief lists facts to confirm, such as two different phone numbers.
Step 11: you get the brief and a first look in about five minutes, before the full build.
Steps 12 to 14: the full build (15 to 40 minutes) moves your content over, adds structured data and checks every page. Titles and descriptions are checked for length.
Steps 21 and 22: your own domain becomes the main address and every other address redirects to it. The sitemap is rebuilt on every publish, and Bing and other IndexNow search engines are told about changes.
Step 28: the content agent writes articles and refreshes pages, and you approve each change.

What's still yours: steps 1 to 5, checking every page, and step 19. Firetend doesn't create redirects from your old site's addresses automatically, so compare your URL list with the new site before you connect your domain. The guide Create your website shows each screen, and pricing lists the plans.

FAQ

What is the website redesign process?

Four stages: before (goals, measurements, URL list, content inventory, facts), during (structure, design, content, SEO, testing), launch (redirects, domain, sitemap, live tests) and after (monitoring and keeping content current).

How do you redesign a website step by step?

Record what you have, decide what must change, plan the pages, agree a design, move and improve the content, test everything, launch with redirects for any changed addresses, then watch Search Console for a few weeks. The 28 steps above go in that order.