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A Website Redesign Checklist That Protects Your Content, Redirects and Google Setup

A redesign goes well when you protect what already works, which means keeping the pages that bring inquiries, redirecting old addresses to new ones, testing every form and telling Google what changed. This checklist follows the order in which the work should happen.

Basics · 6 min read · Updated October 17, 2026

Take stock before you change anything

You cannot protect what you have not listed. Before the designer touches anything:

  • Export a list of all current page addresses. Your site's admin area, its sitemap or a crawling tool can produce one.
  • Note which pages earn visits and inquiries. Google Search Console shows which pages appear in search, and your analytics, if installed, show which pages visitors use.
  • Note which pages other websites link to. The links report in Search Console is a start.
  • Save a full backup of the old site, files and database, plus screenshots of the key pages.
  • List everything that sends or receives data: contact forms, booking widgets, newsletter sign-ups, chat tools, call tracking and payment links.
  • Write down five searches that matter to you and what you see today. This is not a measurement, only a reference point.

Decide what happens to each page

Put the address list in a spreadsheet and give each page one of four labels:

  1. Keep. It still earns visits or inquiries and is accurate. Carry the text over.
  2. Improve. The topic matters, but the text is thin, outdated or unclear.
  3. Merge. Several weak pages cover one topic and work better as one page.
  4. Remove. Outdated offers, expired events and duplicates. Send visitors to the closest relevant page.

Do not delete a page because you dislike it. Check the data first. A page nobody visits may still have a link from another site, and a page you find dull may be the one that brings inquiries. While you are at it, correct the facts: opening hours, team, services, address and phone number. Keep an address unchanged wherever you can, because every changed address is one more redirect to maintain. The result is your URL map, with the old address in the first column and the new address in the second.

Redirects: the step that is most often forgotten

A 301 redirect is a permanent forward from an old address to a new one. Visitors who click an old link, and search engines that remember the old address, land on the right page instead of an error. Without redirects, bookmarks, links in old emails and mentions on other websites lead to a dead end.

Rules that keep redirects useful:

  • Point each old address at its closest new equivalent, not at the home page.
  • Send each old address straight to its final new address in one step. A chain of several redirects slows visitors down and is harder to maintain.
  • If the domain name changes too, plan the work as a site move. Google describes the steps in its guide to site moves with URL changes.
  • After launch, click through a sample of old addresses, starting with your most visited pages.
  • Keep the redirects in place for the long term. Removing them early undoes the work.

If you hire a studio, ask how it plans and tests redirects. How to choose a web design agency lists more questions of this kind.

Google and your listings

After the new site is live, tell Google and your listings what changed:

  • Add the new site to Google Search Console and confirm ownership.
  • Submit the new sitemap.
  • Check that the live site is not blocked by a "noindex" setting or a robots.txt rule. Test versions of a site often carry one of them to stay out of results, and it is easy to copy it into the live site by accident. A new site hidden from search is a classic launch mistake.
  • Compare titles, descriptions and headings on your key pages with the old ones. Do not discard wording that works.
  • Check that the phone version carries the same main content, headings and links as the desktop version, because Google reads the phone version first.
  • Update the website link in your Google Business Profile and in other listings such as Apple Maps and Bing Places, plus directories and social profiles.
  • Write your name, address and phone number the same way everywhere.

For more on the local side, see local SEO for small businesses.

Test forms and functions, then launch

Forms break more redesigns than design does, because a form that fails silently loses inquiries without anyone noticing. Test each one on a phone and on a computer:

  1. Submit it with a real email address.
  2. Confirm that the notification reaches the inbox, not the spam folder, and that a reply goes to the sender.
  3. Check the thank-you message or page.
  4. Test spam protection and required fields.
  5. Click every phone and email link.
  6. Run bookings, payments and downloads from start to finish.
  7. Look at the site on a phone and check that no popup, banner or chat widget covers the phone number or the main button.

Check the legal pages too. The privacy notice and any required legal information must carry over and match what the new site really does, including forms, embedded maps, videos and analytics tools. Requirements differ by country and industry. This article is not legal advice.

On launch day, work in this order: final backup, switch the domain, check redirects, test forms again, check Search Console. In the first weeks, watch Search Console for pages that cannot be found and fix the redirects you missed. Rankings can move for a while after a redesign. A drop that persists usually points to missing redirects or content that did not carry over. For speed checks before launch, see website speed and Core Web Vitals.

Next step, without pressure

If you want an outside look at the current site first, the free website check is a good start. More topics are in the guides overview.

Frequently asked questions

Will a redesign hurt my Google rankings?

It can move them, and no one can promise how results will look. The risk comes mostly from changed addresses without redirects, content that disappears and indexing settings left over from a test version. Handling those three carefully lowers it.

What is a 301 redirect?

It is a permanent forward from an old web address to a new one. Visitors and search engines end up on the right page, and links to the old address keep working.

Should I delete old pages and posts?

Only after checking the data. Pages that still bring visits or have links from other websites should stay or be redirected to a close match. Outdated pages that nobody uses can go, again with a redirect.

Do I have to change my domain name in a redesign?

Usually not, and keeping it saves steps. If you do change the name, treat it as a site move, with redirects for every page and a change of address in Search Console.