Before Design Begins
Capture the current site before deciding what to replace. Inventory indexable URLs, top landing pages, conversions, forms, integrations, analytics, legal content and assets. Interview the people who answer sales and support questions: their repeated questions often reveal the missing information.
| Keep or change? | Decision evidence |
|---|---|
| Page and URL | Search demand, inbound links, traffic, conversions, current accuracy and a destination if removed. |
| Navigation | Priority user tasks, service structure and whether labels are understood without internal jargon. |
| Content | Accuracy, usefulness, proof, ownership and the decision it helps a visitor make. |
| Visual component | Purpose, accessibility, responsive behaviour and maintenance cost. |
| Integration | Business owner, data flow, failure alert and test case. |
Redesign and Build Checklist
- Set measurable goals. Define the important journeys and conversions, plus what must not regress.
- Map the information architecture. Give distinct user intents distinct pages and keep labels concise.
- Create the redirect map early. Assign every changed or removed indexable URL to the most relevant live destination.
- Write real content before final layout. Design with genuine headings, proof, objections and calls to action rather than placeholder copy.
- Build responsive and accessible states. Include keyboard focus, readable contrast, form labels, errors, reduced motion and usable small-screen layouts.
- Preserve measurement. Map analytics and advertising events to the new forms, calls and journeys.
- Test a staging release. Crawl links, check titles and canonicals, submit forms, inspect devices and test performance.
- Launch with a verification list. Check DNS/SSL, redirects, robots, sitemap, analytics, conversions and high-value pages immediately.
The First Days After Launch
Watch server errors, redirect misses, form submissions, analytics events and real user feedback. Compare key journeys with the pre-launch baseline. Fix breakage before expanding the scope into new features.
Map an old URL to a genuinely relevant replacement. Sending every removed page to the homepage hides gaps and creates a poor visitor experience.
Redesign Mistakes to Avoid
- Deleting the existing URL inventory before the redirect map is complete.
- Approving visual mockups with placeholder content.
- Rebuilding every feature without checking whether anyone uses it.
- Launching forms without success, error and notification tests.
- Judging speed from one desktop lab run.
- Changing domain, platform, content and information architecture without a rollback plan.
Sources and Further Reading
Platform requirements and recommended practices change. These primary sources were checked when this guide was reviewed.
- Google SEO Starter Guide — primary documentation consulted for this guide.
- W3C Web Accessibility Initiative — primary documentation consulted for this guide.