Stay up to date with the latest marketing insights and updates
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
Redesigning a website is akin to preparing a gourmet meal: extensive planning and meticulous execution are crucial. A successful website redesign involves more than just updating the look and feel; it requires a strategic approach to enhance user experience, improve functionality, and boost overall performance. Here's a detailed checklist to guide you through the process.
Review all product/service pages, blog articles, event pages, media/news pages, company pages, etc. Use a spreadsheet to log and review information on each page.
SEO Considerations:
Assess Search Rankings. Retain pages with high search volume and top 3 SERP placements (positions 1-30).
Create a Redirect Plan. Mark whether each page should be kept or redirected. Specify the target page for redirections (this is an item you may need to come back to once you’ve defined the new site architecture).
Benchmarking: This serves as a reference point to measure site performance post-launch.
Metrics to Track:
Analytics Data: Extract landing page data from Google Analytics.
Identify platforms connected to your website: Make note of these platforms and the codes to determine whether they’re still needed in the redesign. If they are still needed and you have a number of integrations, consider how to best minimize the snippets as this code impacts page speed and SEO performance.
Look for platforms like:
Purpose: Define why you want to redesign or refresh.
Objectives: Specify desired results based on previous performance metrics (i.e. increase organic traffic by 15% YoY pose redesign).
Coverage: Decide if the redesign will encompass the entire site or only specific sections.
Timeline: Establish timelines to support the scope of the project. Keep in mind that the size and complexity of the project will affect the timelines.
I typically recommend creating a RACI at the beginning of a project to fully outline responsibilities and ultimate approvers at each stage.
Key Stakeholders:
Project Team:
Interviews are helpful if you have the time, if not a survey to key stakeholders (i.e. product owners, company owners) can help give you insights on how to improve the site that the pure data cannot. They can also give you ideas and considerations to include in the ideation process.
Stakeholders - Company Owner, Product Manager/Owner:: Gather feedback on missing elements and potential improvements.
Customer Service & Frontline Staff: Understand customer challenges to better address them in the redesign.
Action: Document both qualitative feedback and quantitative data and ensure it’s accessible to the project team to assess.
This is an expedited quick list of the redesign steps. For more details in what goes into a redesign, read the Cost of a Website Redesign in 2024.
Meetings: Set up recurring meetings for status updates and team input.
Information Architecture: Assess how to improve site structure.
Create an architecture flowchart to illustrate page hierarchy and interactions.
User Interface (UI) & Content:
Development Plan: Ensure a clear plan for page building for components to be reusable, accessible, platform and language friendly.
Redirect Mapping: Develop a comprehensive redirect map to ensure seamless transitions from old to new URLs.
QA Checklist: Develop a specific checklist for the QA team. Work with your team to determine the type of bugs that can wait to be fixed post-launch.
User Acceptance Testing (UAT): Assign team members for the UAT phase and inform them of their review timelines.
Communicate: Once all final feedback is fixed, communicate to the entire project team about a feasible launch date and time.
Choose a Time: If you’re launching a large site, it’s recommended to launch on the day/time with the lowest traffic to the site. Many times, this ends up being Sunday morning or evening.
Roll-back Plan: Make sure to have a roll back plan in the case that there are fixes that require an extensive time.
Post-Launch Announcement: Ensure you have a communication planned to share post launch with the organization, highlighting key changes, features and expected outcomes.
By following this comprehensive checklist, you can ensure a smooth and effective website redesign, resulting in a site that meets your goals and enhances user experience. Remember, a website redesign is an ongoing process that requires continuous evaluation and iteration. Post-launch, closely monitor the performance of the new site using your established benchmarks and analytics tools. Gather feedback from users to identify areas for further improvement. Regularly update content to keep it fresh and relevant, and stay up-to-date with the latest web design and SEO best practices.
A successful website redesign can lead to improved user satisfaction, higher engagement rates, and increased conversions.