Website redesign checklist: what to keep, fix and rebuild

A website redesign should solve an identifiable business problem. “It looks dated” can be a valid starting observation, but it does not tell you whether to change the typography, rewrite the service pages or replace the whole platform. Start by finding where the current site makes a customer’s decision harder.

This checklist helps a small business choose the right extent of change, protect useful existing work and agree what a successful replacement must do. It is a planning method, not a claim that every website needs rebuilding.

Write a problem statement you can test

Describe the issue as a behaviour, not a design preference. “People ask whether we cover their postcode because our coverage is buried” gives the project a clear task. “We need something more modern” leaves the designer guessing.

Gather a small evidence pack: customer questions, examples of unsuitable enquiries, screenshots of confusing pages and any reliable traffic or enquiry records. Ask whoever answers the phone what they repeatedly have to explain. Their observations are valuable, but distinguish a recurring pattern from a single unusual conversation.

Choose one main outcome and a few supporting measures. For example: help suitable customers request an installation survey, reduce incomplete enquiry details and make coverage visible on every relevant service page. Do not set a conversion target without first checking whether the current measurement is trustworthy.

Decide what to keep, repair or replace

Review the site page by page before drawing a new sitemap. Keep a record of each URL, its purpose, whether its information is current, useful enquiries it contributes to and the proposed action.

Finding	Proportionate response	Evidence needed
Clear content, inconsistent visual styling	Refresh shared design rules	Readability and navigation review
Attractive pages, confusing offer	Rewrite and restructure priority pages	Customer questions and enquiry quality
Working platform, broken form journey	Repair the integration and feedback	A complete submission test
Content editing is costly or unreliable	Reconsider the publishing workflow	A real editing demonstration
Platform prevents essential requirements	Evaluate a rebuild	Documented limitations and alternatives

This inventory can reduce unnecessary scope. A useful pricing explanation or a well-organised project gallery should not disappear simply because a new design is being commissioned.

Audit the customer journey on a phone

Start from a service page, not only the homepage. Many visitors arrive directly on an inner page. Can they identify the service, check its suitability, assess evidence and take the next step without hunting through the menu?

Use a real phone and ordinary network conditions. Check that the menu opens and closes, text remains readable, important information is not hidden by a floating button and contact links work. Repeat the journey with a keyboard on desktop. W3C’s Easy Checks offers an initial accessibility review; it is not a substitute for a complete assessment.

Record the exact page, device, action and observed problem. “The phone layout is poor” is difficult to act on. “The postcode field is covered by the sticky enquiry button at this screen width” is specific enough to fix and retest.

Protect the information people already use

Keep a record of URLs, downloadable documents, important images, external links and business details before development begins. Ask whether customers use bookmarked pages or links in proposals, emails and printed materials. A rarely visited page may still be operationally important.

For every page being removed, identify whether there is a genuinely equivalent replacement. Google’s migration guidance explains why URL mapping and redirects need attention during a move. A redesign can change search performance, so preserve a baseline rather than assuming a new appearance protects existing visibility.

Agree who supplies updated prices, service boundaries, staff information and permission to publish photographs. These facts need a business owner; they should not be invented by a designer filling empty space.

Turn approval into acceptance criteria

A homepage sign-off does not cover the whole website. Agree representative checks for each page type and the complete contact journey before launch.

• Each service page explains the audience, scope, exclusions and next step.
• Navigation works with touch and keyboard, including menu closing and focus visibility.
• Forms show useful errors, confirm successful delivery and reach the intended recipient.
• Old priority URLs reach their appropriate replacements.
• Titles, descriptions, headings and important links reflect the final content.
• The owner can access the domain, hosting, content and agreed reporting tools.

Write down who performs each check and what evidence they will provide. “Tested” should refer to an observable result, such as a received test enquiry, rather than a general statement that the page looked fine.

Plan the first review after launch

Keep a dated change log and compare the same business questions after the redesign. Check enquiry quality, broken journeys and unexpected traffic changes before commissioning another visual revision. Small samples deserve careful interpretation; one quiet week does not establish a trend.

An illustrative example: a joinery firm may discover that its strongest pages already explain the craftsmanship well, while visitors struggle to understand lead times and service areas. Its best redesign could preserve the gallery, improve those answers and simplify the contact form. That is a more useful brief than replacing everything.

Use the checklist for keeping customers finding you through a redesign for the migration details, or explore website design for your business to turn the audit into a focused scope.