A good website redesign checklist starts with the job your site must do. It then gives each task an owner and a clear way to check the result. Picking colors comes later.
You do not need to replace every page. You need to know what helps your customers, what causes trouble and what a better version should do. Use this plan before asking for a quote or starting a new draft.
The short answer
- Define a customer task and an editing task before choosing the design.
- Give each existing page a purpose, content owner and URL decision.
- Use acceptance checks and a decision log to keep late requests under control.
How this guide was made
This planning guide uses user needs, accessibility and site move guidance. The gardening business inventory and approval tools are fictional examples. They have not been tested in a client project, and enquiry changes alone would not prove that a redesign caused a result.
Sources checked .
Set goals you can check
Start with real customer questions and staff tasks. GOV.UK guidance recommends using evidence rather than treating assumptions as facts. Keep the goal narrow enough to guide a page decision.
Source for this section: [2] GOV.UK guidance on learning user needs
Choose a customer goal
For a fictional gardener, the goal is to help a local homeowner request a garden visit. Define a useful enquiry before counting it: it is about an offered service, within the service area, with a way to reply. Spam and unrelated sales messages do not count.
Record the starting period and number of useful enquiries. Note traffic source changes and seasonality when reviewing later results. A rise after launch does not on its own prove the design caused it.
Choose an internal editing goal
The same gardener may need staff to change opening hours without asking the builder. Write that as an acceptance check: an authorized staff member can update the hours in a draft and publish the approved change.
Save what already works
List the live pages and their web addresses. Note which services are current, which pages answer useful questions and which photos you own. Keep a copy of the old content before work starts.
Ask staff what customers struggle to find. A phone number may be correct but hard to see. A service page may be clear but linked from the wrong place. These problems may need small fixes.
Google's site move guide recommends mapping old addresses when they change. Keep useful addresses where you can. Give any planned changes to the person handling the search handover.
- Keep pages that still help customers.
- Update facts, wording or layout where needed.
- Merge pages only when one page can answer both needs.
- Remove old content only after checking what should replace it.
Source for this section: [3] Google guidance on site moves
Build a page plan from the evidence
This five page inventory is fictional. It shows why a page should stay, change or merge. Choose decisions for your own site after reviewing its content and useful links.
| Page and purpose | Content decision | Fact owner | URL and missing material |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home, explain the offer | Edit the opening message | Business owner | Keep /, add approved service area |
| Garden care, explain repeat visits | Keep, update scope | Service lead | Keep /care, confirm tasks included |
| Garden tidy up, explain a single visit | Edit with a distinct service need | Service lead | Keep /tidy, add quote process |
| Old offer, explain expired discount | Remove old deal, retain useful facts elsewhere | Business owner | Review /offer for a relevant destination |
| Contact, request a visit | Keep, simplify fields | Office manager | Keep /contact, confirm receiving inbox |
Gather content and account access
Make one folder for approved words, logos and photos. Mark who can approve each item. Check service names, opening hours, prices and contact details with the business owner.
Make sure the business can access its domain account, site platform and contact inbox. Share access through the provider's account controls. Do not put passwords in the content brief.
Write down the tools the site depends on. A booking service, map or enquiry form may need its own setup. A new button does not mean that the service behind it works.
- Approved text, images and proof for each planned page.
- A factual owner for service scope, area, prices and hours.
- Access through account controls, with passwords kept out of the brief.
- A list of outside tools and the people who own them.
- A record of missing material so the designer does not fill gaps with guesses.
Review a real visitor task
Start from the draft homepage on a phone. Find a service, check the area covered and try the contact route. Note where you had to stop and think. Repeat on a computer.
Then try moving through links and fields with a keyboard. Check headings, readable text and clear field labels. W3C recommends planning accessibility across the project. A quick review can find issues, but it cannot prove that every person can use the site.
Keep feedback specific. Say the contact link is hard to find after the service list. That gives the builder a problem to solve. Saying it needs more impact does not.
Source for this section: [1] W3C guidance on planning accessibility
Agree on acceptance checks
Write these before design approval so the review tests the promised result. Adapt the examples to the actual project.
- A visitor can find the service area and request the right service.
- An editor can change opening hours through the agreed process.
- Useful existing URLs stay stable or have an approved move map.
- An enquiry shows a clear result and reaches the agreed staff system.
- The agreed keyboard and phone checks have evidence, with open issues assigned.
Record requests that change the scope
A request for a new service page may add content, design and approval work. Record that impact before agreeing to a delivery date.
| Proposed change | Reason | Scope impact | Decision |
|---|---|---|---|
| Add a new service page | New service now confirmed | Copy, page setup and service lead approval | Pending, named approver to decide |
| Add an animated background | Style preference | Design and access review | Defer unless it supports the agreed goal |
Give every task an owner and proof
The same fictional gardening business uses the task sheet below to assign its work. These rows show planned checks, not completed client results. Replace roles with actual names and add evidence only after each task is checked.
Use one shared list for decisions. If nobody owns a row, the task can slip between the business and the builder. If there is no proof column, people may disagree about what done means.
| Task | Owner | Proof it is done |
|---|---|---|
| Review recent enquiries | Business owner | List of common customer questions |
| Record five live page addresses | Builder | Page list checked against the live site |
| Confirm current services | Team lead | Approved service list |
| Approve contact details | Business owner | Phone, area and hours checked |
| Check the enquiry route | Owner and builder | Marked test reaches the right inbox |
Plan launch and care before the end
Agree who will make the final decision to publish. Set aside time to check the live site, since a preview and a public site can behave differently. Keep a way to return to the old version if a key task fails.
Ask for a short handover note. It should explain how to edit common details, where enquiries arrive and who handles a problem. Add renewal dates and the next content review date.
At handover, move to the website launch checklist for release checks. Use the SEO migration guide for changed addresses. Keep those checks attached to the project so the design review does not become a substitute for them.
Sources and further reading
Numbered links beside each section point to the source used there. Our examples and checklists are guidance from SnapRebuild. They are not claims of test results. Product details can change.
SnapRebuild sells a website building service. These guides are published under our editorial team name and use AI for research and writing. This is not a claim of independent expert review. Read how we make and update our content. Found an error? Tell us.
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