Website redesign checklist: what to sort before you start
Sort six things before a redesign starts: why you're doing it and how you'll measure it, a baseline of today's traffic and enquiries, a list of every URL that brings visitors, which content stays, goes or gets rewritten, who edits the site and on which platform, and a launch plan with redirects. It takes a few days and protects what already works.
Do you need a redesign, or just a fix?
You need a redesign when the site holds the business back, not when you're tired of looking at it.
Most companies already have a site. In 2025, 80.9% of Czech and 72.4% of Slovak firms with 10 to 49 people had one (Eurostat, February 2026). So most "new websites" are really redesigns, and the old site has something to lose: rankings, links and pages that bring enquiries.
A redesign is worth it when:
- Your offer has changed and the site still sells the old one.
- Your team can't edit it without a developer, so every update waits.
- It's slow or awkward on a phone.
- It looks older than your business. A new brand, new markets or bigger clients the site doesn't show.
A fix is enough when the problem is one slow page, a confusing contact form or a bad mobile menu. Fix that first and see what changes.
If it is a redesign, write the goal in one line, such as "more enquiries from the service pages" or "marketing publishes landing pages without us". Then pick two or three numbers you'll compare after launch.
What should you measure before you change anything?
Record how the current site performs. Without a baseline, you can't prove the new site does better or spot what slipped.
- Export your Search Console data. Top pages, top queries, clicks and impressions. Search Console keeps data for the last 16 months (Google Analytics Help), so save a full year now.
- List your top landing pages in analytics, and the pages where enquiries start.
- Count enquiries by source: forms, calls, emails. If you can't count them today, set that up before anything else.
- Measure speed on mobile. Google's Core Web Vitals call a page good when it loads its main content within 2.5 seconds, responds to input in 200 milliseconds or less and keeps layout shift at 0.1 or less, measured at the 75th percentile of visits (web.dev). Save a PageSpeed Insights report for your top pages.
- Screenshot the key pages on desktop and phone. You'll want them for the before and after.
Which pages and URLs have to survive?
Every URL that gets traffic, links or enquiries either keeps its address or gets a permanent (301) redirect to its closest new page.
- List every URL. Crawl the site, then add the URLs from Search Console and analytics. A crawl only finds pages that something links to.
- Map old to new, one row per old URL: keep, merge into another page, or redirect. Google calls this mapping important and recommends server-side permanent redirects (Google Search Central, August 2026).
- Keep the redirects for as long as possible, generally at least a year (same source).
- Carry over titles, meta descriptions, headings and structured data on the pages that rank.
- Update internal links to the new URLs instead of leaning on redirects.
- Expect a wobble. Google says a small to medium site can take a few weeks for most pages to move, and visibility may fluctuate meanwhile (same source).
Pages with no traffic, no links and no job can go. A smaller, clearer site is often the point of the redesign.
What content do you keep, cut or rewrite?
Decide page by page before design starts. Content shapes the layout, not the other way round.
| Page | Usually | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Pages that rank or bring enquiries | Keep, edit lightly | They already work. Change the look, keep the substance and the URL |
| Two pages on the same topic | Merge | One strong page is clearer for visitors and for search |
| Old news and offers you no longer sell | Cut and redirect | They confuse visitors and send them nowhere useful |
| Homepage and main service pages | Rewrite | This is where your new positioning lives |
| References and case studies | Update | Recent work with real names, where clients allow it |
Then settle three practical things:
- Who writes. Decide before design starts, because the schedule starts when the content is ready. We edit and shape your words, and bring in a copywriter if you need new copy from scratch.
- Photos. Real photos of your team, work and premises. Plan the shoot early.
- Accessibility. Check contrast, headings, alt text and keyboard use. If you sell to consumers online, ask whether the European Accessibility Act applies to you: it covers e-commerce services (European Commission).
Who edits the site, and on which platform?
Choose the platform by who will edit the site and how often.
- A marketing team that edits every week: Webflow.
- Several languages, top speed or a custom tool: Astro with Sanity.
- A small, design-led site that changes look often: Framer.
- A WordPress site that works and someone keeps updated: stay on it and redesign there.
Changing platform during a redesign adds a move. In our calculator that's €400 from Wix, Squarespace, Webflow or Framer, and €600 from WordPress. It also changes what you pay each year: about €160 to €270 for Webflow, about €110 to €320 for Framer and €0 to about €220 for Astro with Sanity (Webflow, Framer, Sanity, Vercel, October 2026). The long version is in Webflow, Astro or Framer.
One more thing while you're here: put the domain, hosting, analytics and Search Console in your company's name, not a freelancer's.
What goes on the launch checklist?
Redirects live from the first minute, then a month of watching.
| When | What to check |
|---|---|
| Before launch | Redirect map tested on the staging site · titles and meta carried over · forms reach the right inbox · analytics and cookie consent work · staging hidden from search engines |
| Launch day | Redirects live · new sitemap submitted in Search Console · your top old URLs opened by hand · robots.txt lets search engines in · a test enquiry sent |
| First 30 days | Search Console checked weekly for errors and 404s · rankings for your top queries · enquiries against the baseline · speed measured again |
| After a year | Redirects still in place · this year's numbers against last year's |
In our projects, this is built in. AI helps us crawl your current site, list every page and redirect, summarise your analytics and compare old and new content so nothing important goes missing. We decide what stays, design it and check every redirect that carries traffic. After launch we watch rankings for 30 days and fix anything that slips.
What we'd do
Do the first three steps yourself, even if you never hire us: the goal, the baseline and the URL list. They take a few days, and they're the part nobody can redo after launch. Then decide content and platform with whoever designs the site.
If you'd like us to run it, our redesigns follow the same packages as new sites, from €3,900, with redirects and 30 days of watching rankings included. Tick "Redesign of my current site" in the calculator for your own range.