A useful website redesign starts by recording what already works. Before changing the design, collect the pages people visit, the enquiries they submit and the links other websites send you. That baseline helps you decide what to preserve, what to improve and what you need to check after launch.
Record the current site
- Export or list existing URLs, including service pages, articles and campaign landing pages.
- Review available search and analytics data for useful landing pages and customer actions.
- Identify forms, booking tools, payments and external integrations.
- Confirm domain, hosting and analytics access with the people responsible.
- Keep an accessible backup or recovery plan appropriate to the existing platform.
Give each page a job
Map pages to customer questions. A service page explains who the service is for, what it includes and how to start. An article helps someone work through a question before buying. A contact page makes the next step clear. Avoid combining every service into a vague page that forces visitors to guess whether you can help.
Assign someone to approve copy, images and contact details before development is finished. A design filled with placeholder text cannot show whether the final page answers the customer's question. Review long titles, real service descriptions and the actual fields the form needs on a small screen.
Plan URL changes deliberately
Keep useful existing URLs when possible. Where a page moves, map its old address to the closest relevant new page using a permanent redirect. Do not redirect every old page to the homepage. Update internal links and canonical URLs, and include the intended public pages in the sitemap. Google's site-move guidance explains how URL changes are processed and why temporary search fluctuations can happen.
Test the customer journey before launch
- Open key pages on mobile and check that text, navigation and buttons remain usable.
- Submit each form with test details and verify where the submission arrives.
- Check booking, payment and confirmation steps where they are part of the scope.
- Verify page titles, descriptions, indexability, canonical URLs and redirects.
- Check error states, missing pages, consent controls and keyboard access.
Measure after launch
Compare the new site's enquiries and search performance against the baseline over time. Check for broken URLs, missing submissions and unexpected indexing restrictions immediately after release. A deployed site is only the beginning of verification: the business team should confirm that real enquiries reach the right owner and can be followed up.
Source and further reading
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