Website Redesign Checklist: 42 Steps From Goals to Launch

This website redesign checklist takes an agency and its client from the first goals meeting to the redirect check 30 days after launch. It has 42 steps in seven phases, and each phase has one thing the client signs off. The short version comes first.

1. Goals. One number the new site must move.
2. Audit. A dated score of the current site.
3. Content and structure. The page list, the URL map and who writes what.
4. Design. Phone layout first, approved before any build.
5. Build. On a staging address search engines cannot reach.
6. Launch. Redirects live, forms tested, tracking on.
7. After launch. Redirects rechecked, site rescored, report sent.

Who is this redesign checklist for?

This checklist is for a web design agency or a freelancer running a website redesign for a client. Most checklists on this topic speak to the site owner. This one adds what an agency carries. That means the sign-offs, the logins and content from the client, and proof at the end that the work paid off.

The website redesign checklist, phase by phase

The steps run from 1 to 42, so both sides can refer to each by number.

Phase 1. Goals

Run this before anyone opens a design tool. The client signs off the brief.

1. Write down the one result the site must improve. Calls, bookings, quote requests or sales.
2. Record today's figure for that result and where it is measured.
3. Name the two or three kinds of customer the site is for, in the client's words.
4. List what stays. The domain, the logo, the booking system and anything under contract.
5. Fix the budget, the launch date and one person who signs off for the client.
6. Put steps 1 to 5 on one page that both sides sign.

Here is that page, ready to copy.

Redesign brief for [business name]

The new site must increase [calls, bookings, quote requests or sales] from [today's figure] a month, measured in [call tracking, form entries or the booking system].

It is for [customer type 1] and [customer type 2].

These stay as they are. [Domain, logo, booking system.]

Budget [amount]. Launch by [date]. [Name] signs off for [business name].

Signed by [client] and [agency] on [date].

Why. A redesign without a number turns into an argument about taste, and one named person keeps a committee from reopening decisions. Our web design questionnaire has the questions for this meeting.

Phase 2. Audit

Run this before you propose a single change. The client signs off the list of what stays and what goes.

7. Score the current site on the 10 domains in the table below, and date the scores.
8. Export every URL from a crawl and from the sitemap.
9. Pull 12 months of analytics and mark the pages that bring visits, calls or form entries.
10. List the pages that other websites link to.
11. Record Core Web Vitals for the home page and the three busiest landing pages.
12. Take full-page screenshots of every template, on desktop and on a phone.
13. List what already works, such as pages that rank and forms that get used.

These are the 10 domains that Twip, the AI inside Leadodo, scores a website on, out of 100. Any scoring method works, as long as you use the same one before and after. For step 11, Google's marks for a good page are a Largest Contentful Paint of 2.5 seconds or less, an Interaction to Next Paint of 200 milliseconds or less and a Cumulative Layout Shift of 0.1 or less (web.dev).

Why. You cannot prove the redesign worked without a dated baseline, and you cannot protect a page you did not know was earning. Our website audit checklist covers the checks in full.

Phase 3. Content and structure

Run this before design starts. The client signs off the page list and the URL map.

14. Draft the new page list and give each page one job.
15. Build the URL map. Every old URL gets a row with a decision and a new address.
16. Decide who writes each page, the client or you, and by which date.
17. Collect the logins for the domain, hosting, analytics, Search Console and the booking system.
18. Collect the assets. Logo files, photos of the team and the work, licenses and reviews.
19. Finish the copy for the home page and the three busiest pages.

Why. Content from the client is the one part of the schedule you do not control, so it gets a named owner and a date.

Phase 4. Design

Run this once the page list is signed. The client signs off the designs in writing.

20. Design the phone layout of the home page first.
21. Put the main action on the first screen of every template. Call, book or get a quote.
22. Use the real copy and photos from phase 3 in the mockups.
23. Check contrast and text size against WCAG 2.1 level AA.
24. Design the templates the page list needs and no others.
25. Present once, collect every change in one list and revise once.

Why. Google indexes and ranks the mobile version of a site (Google Search Central), so the phone layout is the one that counts. Set the number of revision rounds in the contract, and our web design contract template is the place to do it.

Phase 5. Build

Run this once the designs are approved. The client signs off the staging site, page by page.

26. Build on a staging address behind a password, so search engines cannot index it.
27. Set the title, the description and one main heading for every page.
28. Load the redirects from the URL map and test every row on staging.
29. Rebuild every form and send a test entry to the client's inbox.
30. Move the tracking over. Analytics, call tracking, ad pixels and the booking embed.
31. Test every template on a real phone, then again with only a keyboard.
32. Run Core Web Vitals on staging and fix anything worse than the baseline.

Why. Redirects and forms get tested twice, here and at launch, because they are the two failures that cost the client customers on day one.

Phase 6. Launch

Run this on launch day. The client signs off the live site.

33. Back up the old site, files and database, and keep the copy.
34. Launch when the client's phones are quiet and you are at your desk the next morning.
35. Go live, then remove the staging password and any setting that blocks search engines.
36. Test every row of the URL map on the live domain.
37. Submit the new sitemap in Search Console.
38. Send a test through every form and call every tracked number.

Why. A setting that blocks search engines is easy to leave on, and it keeps the whole site out of search. Step 36 repeats step 28 because a redirect that worked on staging can fail on the live server.

Phase 7. After launch

Run this over the 90 days after launch. The client signs off the close of the project.

39. Check Search Console for pages not found once a week for four weeks, and add any redirect you missed. Keep every redirect for at least a year.
40. Score the new site the way you did in step 7 and fill in the After column.
41. Compare the figure from step 2 at 30 days and again at 90 days.
42. Send the client one page with the before and the after, and offer a care plan.

Why. Launch day is too early to judge the result. The before and after page is the start of your case study, and our guide to website maintenance plans covers what to offer next.

What does a filled-in URL map look like?

A URL map is a table with one row for every address on the old site, the decision for that page and where it goes. This one is for Ridgeline Roofing at ridgelineroofing.example. The business and its numbers are made up.

Filled in.

Copy three things from it. Each busy page goes to its closest match. No row points at the home page. A page that works keeps its address.

What does Google say about redirects in a website redesign?

Google's guide, How to move a site, covers any change to the URLs of existing pages. It recommends permanent server-side redirects from each old URL to its new one, and it sets three rules this checklist follows.

The same guide says a small to medium-sized website "can take a few weeks for most pages to move", and that visibility in Search may fluctuate during the move. Tell the client both before launch, in writing.

What should you change before you use this checklist?

Change it to fit the size of the site and what moves. The 42 steps describe a local business site of 10 to 30 pages that gets new addresses.

• A site with two or three faults. Fix those and skip the redesign. Our guide to website redesign cost shows how scope changes the hours.
• An online store. Add product data, payment tests and order emails to phases 5 and 6.
• A new domain. Add the change of address in Search Console to phase 6.
• The same platform and the same addresses. Skip steps 15, 28 and 36, and say in the brief that no address changes.
• A regulated trade. A law, health or finance site may need its wording approved by the client's own adviser. Add that review to phase 3. This is not legal advice.

Step 1 is the one line you must rewrite for every client. Without the client's own number, the other 41 steps have no test.

Questions

What is a website redesign checklist?

A website redesign checklist is a numbered list of the steps to replace a site's design, structure and content without losing its traffic or its leads. This one has 42 steps in seven phases, from the goals meeting to a check 30 days after launch.

What is the first step in a website redesign?

Agree the one result the new site must improve, and record today's figure for it. Without that figure nobody can judge the design or the outcome.

How do you redesign a website without losing SEO?

Map every old URL to its closest new page, use permanent redirects and test them on staging and again on the live site. Google's guide to moving a site says to keep those redirects "generally at least 1 year".

How long does a website redesign take?

It depends mostly on phase 3. Design and build can be scheduled. Content and sign-off depend on the client, which is why this checklist gives both a named owner and a date.

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Next step. Twip scores every website in a search on the same 10 domains, so you can find the businesses whose sites need this checklist most. See how the score works.