What to Check Before a Website Redesign

By Patricia Jarmek Content & Websites 4 October 2026

4 min read

A redesign can make a site clearer and more useful, but it can also lose valuable content, links and enquiries. Before discussing colours, record what the current site does well, where people struggle and what the new version should achieve. Not every old element needs preserving. The effects of removing content or changing addresses do need to be understood first.

Take stock of the existing site

List important pages, URLs, content, calls to action and forms. Identify pages already bringing relevant visitors, leads or sales. Record external links and pages appearing in search. Alongside analytics, ask the team who speaks to customers: they often know which information visitors cannot find.

If an old service page produces good leads, do not remove it simply because it clashes with the proposed design. Preserve useful answers in a better form. When changing its address, redirect to genuinely corresponding content. Sending every old URL to the home page may leave visitors without what they sought.

Define improvements you can assess

Before design begins, write down a few goals:

Can a new visitor understand the offer without extra explanation?
Can someone contact you or buy easily on a phone?
Are prices, terms and common questions easy to find?
Do forms and measurement work after launch?
Can people with different needs access the content?

If people cannot find services, navigation matters more than a home-page animation. If a form fails on mobile, improve its flow and fields, not only its appearance. A sound brief separates visual impression from the task a visitor wants to complete.

Plan content and URLs before launch

For each old URL, decide whether it stays, moves, merges with related content or is reasonably retired. Map appropriate redirects. Prepare titles, copy, image descriptions and internal links before publication. A multilingual site requires the same check for each language: the new navigation must not lead to a missing translation. Include the footer, legal information and form messages. [1], [2]

Imagine a shop renaming categories during a redesign. If old addresses simply disappear, customers arriving through established links may hit an error. Redirect planning and a coherent new category structure belong within the redesign, not in a rushed technical clean-up afterwards.

Test before and after launch

Follow the main routes on desktop and mobile: from a search result to a service, form and confirmation. From a category to product and order. Check speed, readability, contrast, keyboard use, links and status codes. Use a staging environment when possible, and repeat checks on the live site after launch.

Monitor indexing, relevant enquiries and purchases afterwards. Short-term movements do not automatically establish the cause. Compare similar periods and record other changes. A redesign is complete when the new site works for people and can be maintained, not merely when it looks good in a presentation image.

Who checks the new site

A redesign is not only a conversation between the designer and owner. The enquiry team knows where customers misunderstand the offer. Editors know what content is hard to maintain, and technical staff see risks in URL and form changes. Include them early. On a multilingual site, assign someone to review each language.

Agree on a short acceptance list: essential pages exist, redirects work, forms arrive, measurement records successful actions and mobile use is sound. Give every check an owner. Keep a backup and a rollback plan for a serious problem after launch. Publication then depends on evidence rather than the impression given by a presentation image.