Step-by-step website redesign checklist

With more and more people shopping, browsing and comparing online, your website is usually your first impression. If it’s outdated, slow, or difficult to navigate, that impression won’t last long. A redesign isn’t just about giving your site a fresh coat of paint; it’s about improving user experience, boosting performance, and aligning your online presence with your current goals.

Whether you’re refreshing your brand, optimizing for better SEO, or transforming an old site into a conversion-focused powerhouse, a clear plan makes all the difference. That’s why having a website redesign checklist is so important.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through a complete, step-by-step website revamp checklist, from setting goals and auditing your current site to launching and maintaining your new one. Follow each stage carefully, and you’ll end up with a website that not only looks great but performs even better.

Step 1: Define specific goals and metrics

Before jumping into design mockups, colour palettes, and the latest design trends, take a step back. Hard, I know.

The most successful website redesign project start with a clear purpose. That is knowing why you’re redesigning in the first place and what success looks like.

The first step is to ask yourself:

• What’s not working on your current website? (e.g., high bounce rates, poor conversions, slow load times)

• What do you want to achieve with the redesign? (e.g., more leads, better SEO performance, improved brand perception)

• Who is your target audience, how have their needs evolved, and what pain points bother them?

• What are your competitors doing? A competitive analysis will give you a good idea of what's working and what's not.

From here, define measurable goals. For example:

• Increase conversion rate by 20% in six months.

• Reduce bounce rate on key pages by half.

• Improve average session duration through improved user experience.

Once you know what success means, it becomes much easier to make strategic design and content decisions that actually move the needle.

Finally, set up tracking tools before you even start the redesign process. If you don't already, make sure you use Google Analytics 4 (GA4), Microsoft Clarity, or Hotjar to collect baseline data on how visitors currently use your site. This gives you a website performance reference point to measure from and track progress against once your new site has gone live.

Step 2: Conduct a detailed website audit

Now that you’ve reviewed the overall goals and objectives of your redesign, it’s time to dig into the specifics. A detailed audit uncovers the technical, design, and content elements that impact user experience, performance, and conversions.

Focus areas for a granular website audit:

1. Content effectiveness

   • Examine each page for readability, tone, and clarity.

   • Check CTAs, headlines, and copy structure, are they guiding website visitors toward your desired actions?

   • Identify opportunities to consolidate, expand, or refresh pages with thin content.

2. Technical performance

   • Analyse Google PageSpeed insights, image optimization, and mobile responsiveness.

   • Check for broken links, redirects, and crawl errors that could affect SEO and user experience.

   • Review your site’s information architecture, are key pages easy to find?

3. Navigation and UX details

   • Evaluate the menu structure, main navigation, and footer links, are users finding important pages quickly?

   • Check for consistency in buttons, headings, and links across the site.

   • Look for confusing labels, excessive dropdowns, or buried content that may frustrate users.

4. Analytics and user behavior

   • Dive into Google Analytics of your existing website, to see where users drop off, which pages have high bounce rates, and which paths lead to conversions.

   • Examine heatmaps to understand where visitors are clicking and how they interact with web design elements.

   • Use this data to identify underperforming pages and features that need improvement.

By completing this in-depth audit, you’ll have a clear, actionable map of issues and opportunities, from technical fixes to content gaps to UX improvements. This sets the foundation for a redesign project that isn’t just visually appealing but strategically optimized for conversion, engagement, and usability.

More specific guidance on how to do a website UX audit here.

3. Plan site structure and content

Ever heard the saying 'An hour of planning can save you 10 hours of doing', well, it's the same for the website redesign process.

Once you’ve completed the detailed audit, it’s time to plan how your redesigned website will function and communicate. A successful website revamp isn’t just about making things look prettier, it’s about improving user experience, making your content more accessible, and aligning your site with business goals.

Map the journey

• Create a clear hierarchy of web pages so users can find what they need quickly. A simple flow diagram works perfectly for this.

• Decide on primary and secondary navigation items, dropdown menus, and footer links.

• Ensure all important pages, such as product pages, service pages, and contact forms, are easy to reach within a few clicks.

Content strategy

• Determine which content will stay, be rewritten, or removed.

• Plan new blog posts, guides, case studies, or white papers to fill content gaps and support SEO.

• Align messaging with your value proposition, tone of voice, and target audience, using clear headings, calls-to-action, and concise copy.

Wireframes and page templates

• Sketch out page layouts, including header, footer, and navigation bar placements.

• Decide on consistent design elements like buttons, forms, and images for a cohesive look.

• Think about what sections you will use on each page. Whilst it's important that each page is visually different, they should use similar style components as this is better for user experience.

Like building a house, you need a clear plan before you can just jump right into building a website. Getting clear on your customer journey, content strategy and flow/structure will help keep your website focused as you continue building.

4. Design mockups and prototypes

With your site structure and content strategy in place, it’s time to bring your ideas to life visually. This stage is all about testing layout, design elements, and user flow before any code is written, so you can make adjustments early without impacting development timelines.

Create mockups

• Develop high-fidelity mockups for key pages like the homepage, product pages, and landing pages.

• Focus on branding consistency, typography, color schemes, and imagery that resonates with your target audience.

• Highlight primary calls-to-action, ensuring they are easily visible and strategically placed.

Prototype interactive elements

• Build clickable prototypes to simulate navigation, dropdowns, menu interactions, and forms.

• Use prototypes to test user behavior, identifying friction points before development begins.

• Encourage stakeholders to review prototypes and provide feedback, ensuring alignment with business goals.

Consider mobile devices

• Ensure designs are responsive, working seamlessly on mobile, tablet, and desktop screens.

• Pay attention to navigation design, hamburger menus, and search bars for smaller screens.

• Test interactive elements like buttons and forms for touch-friendly usability.

By creating mockups and prototypes, you can catch potential UX issues early, refine visual hierarchy, and ensure your website redesign aligns with both user expectations and business objectives. This step saves time and cost during development, while laying a solid foundation for a high-performing, conversion-focused website.

Step 5: Develop and test your website

Once your design is planned out to the last T, it’s time to bring it to life. The development phase turns static website design mockups into a fully functional website, but this stage isn’t just about coding. It’s about ensuring performance, accessibility, and functionality all meet modern standards.

Key areas to focus on:

• Front-end and back-end build: Translate your approved designs into responsive code. Use clean, lightweight code for faster loading times and better SEO performance.

• Speed and performance optimization: Compress images, use lazy loading, and leverage caching to keep page load times under 3 seconds, a critical factor for both users and search engines.

• Accessibility compliance: Make sure the site meets WCAG guidelines and best practices, so users of all abilities can navigate and interact comfortably.

• Browser and device testing: Test your site across multiple browsers (Chrome, Safari, Edge, Firefox) and devices (mobile, tablet, desktop) to spot and fix inconsistencies.

• Form and link validation: Double-check that every link works, every button clicks through correctly, and every form submits as expected.

Before launch, conduct a thorough pre-launch review, test the site’s navigation, load times, and conversion funnels. Your QA phase should be as comprehensive as possible, to minimise teething issues after launch.

Step 6: Strategic launch and performance monitoring

Your new website is ready, but don’t just hit “publish” and hope for the best. A smart launch strategy ensures everything runs smoothly and that your audience experiences the site exactly as intended.

Here’s how to manage a successful website launch:

• Set up redirects: Avoid broken links and lost search engine optimization value by redirecting old URLs to their new counterparts. This helps search engines and organic traffic find the right pages.

• Check analytics and tracking: Make sure Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, and any conversion tracking pixels (e.g., Meta, TikTok, LinkedIn) are correctly installed before going live.

• Test on a staging site first: Do one final check on a private version of your site to confirm that everything works as expected, forms, navigation, mobile views, and page speed.

• Announce your relaunch: Share the news via email, social media, or press releases. Highlight what’s new and improved, such as faster load times, clearer navigation, or a refreshed design.

• Monitor post-launch performance: In the first few weeks, closely track key metrics like bounce rate, conversion rate, average session duration, and traffic sources. Watch how visitors interact with your new design and note any early friction points.

Launching a website isn’t the finish line, it’s the beginning of a new performance phase. The data you gather now will help fine-tune your content, design, and user experience for even better results over time.

Step 7: Maintain, optimize, evolve

A website redesign isn’t a one-and-done project, it’s an ongoing process. Once your new site is live, the real work begins: keeping it fresh, functional, and optimized for both users and search engines.

Here’s how to keep your redesigned site performing at its best:

• Review analytics regularly: Track user engagement, traffic patterns, and conversion data. Identify which pages perform well and which might need additional tweaks.

• Run ongoing SEO checks: A redesign can unintentionally impact your search engine rankings. Monitor your keyword positions in Google Search Console, fix crawl errors, and update metadata as needed, to ensure you don't disappear from search results.

• Test and refine CTAs: Try different call-to-action placements, colours, and copy. Small adjustments can lead to significant boosts in conversions.

• Keep your content current: Update blog posts, case studies, and imagery frequently to show that your business is active and engaged.

• Maintain site health: Regularly check for broken links, outdated plugins, and slow-loading pages. A well-maintained site signals trust and professionalism to both visitors and search engines.

• Gather user feedback: Encourage customers to share their experience with the new design. Real-world insights often reveal usability issues analytics alone can’t.

The ultimate website redesign checklist

Your website should grow alongside your business and your audience. Continuous improvement ensures it remains a valuable asset, driving conversions, reflecting your brand, and delivering a positive user experience that keeps visitors coming back.

A site redesign is more than just a visual update, it’s an opportunity to strengthen your brand, improve usability, and drive better results. By following a clear, step-by-step website redesign checklist, you can approach your project strategically rather than guessing your way through it.

Whether you’re planning a complete website overhaul or a light website refresh, the key is to stay focused on your goals, your audience, and the data that informs your decisions. Taking the time to evaluate, plan, test, and refine is a great way to ensure your new site doesn’t just look better, it performs better too.

Remember: a successful redesign isn’t about reinventing the wheel. It’s about building on what already works, removing what doesn’t, and creating a website that reflects your business today while setting you up for growth tomorrow.

Website revamp checklist: The cliff notes

Need the quick version? Here’s your website redesign checklist in a nutshell, a clear, actionable summary you can run through before launching your next redesign:

Audit your current site: Review analytics, SEO performance, and user behaviour to identify what’s working and what isn’t.

Define your goals: Decide what you want your new site to achieve: more leads, better UX, faster loading, stronger branding, etc.

Understand your audience: Revisit your target users’ needs, preferences, and browsing habits before making design or content decisions.

Plan your structure: Map out an updated site architecture and navigation that improves flow and reduces friction.

Refresh your design: Modernise visuals, typography, and layouts for a cleaner, more professional look that reflects your brand.

Update your content: Rewrite or refine copy for clarity, tone, and SEO. Make sure each page serves a clear purpose.

Optimize for performance: Compress images, tidy code, and ensure responsive design across all devices and browsers.

Test everything: Check navigation, links, load times, forms, and conversions before going live. Fix any bugs or UX issues early.

Prepare for launch: Set up redirects, monitor analytics, and announce the relaunch. Have a rollback plan just in case.

Monitor and improve: Keep tracking your results post-launch. A successful redesign is ongoing, tweak, refine, and evolve as you learn.