Website redesign planning begins with understanding the site you already have. A new look can be valuable, but the project should also explain which business or visitor problems it will solve. Review useful content and working journeys before deciding what to replace.
Start website redesign planning with an inventory
List the main pages, forms, downloads and integrations. Ask staff which pages they send to customers and which questions the site does not answer well. Include pages that are not visible in the main navigation but still receive visitors or support a business process.
For an illustrative consultancy, an older technical guide may still help prospective customers even if the homepage feels dated. That guide deserves an explicit decision: retain it, improve it or replace it with a relevant destination.
Define the problems in observable terms
Replace “the website feels old” with findings that can be assessed. Perhaps service descriptions overlap, contact details are difficult to find or editing a page requires specialist help. These findings lead to clearer requirements and acceptance tests.
- What should visitors understand more easily?
- Which task should become simpler?
- Which content needs factual revision?
- What should the owner be able to update?
- Which integrations must continue working?
Map old pages to the proposed structure
If URLs will change, prepare an old-to-new mapping and use appropriate permanent redirects for moved pages. Google’s site migration guidance describes the planning and monitoring involved. Sending every old address to the homepage is not a substitute for deciding where the relevant information belongs.
Assign an owner to check the mapping. Keep unchanged URLs where they still suit the content and structure. Review links in downloads, customer messages and other material that your team controls.
Separate launch requirements from later ideas
Agree what must be ready for launch and what can follow. A new booking integration may deserve its own discovery work instead of being added casually to a visual refresh. Record dependencies and who will approve the result.
Ask the supplier to explain what is included in content migration, testing and handover. A design proposal and a complete replacement project can cover different work, so make the boundary clear before delivery begins.
Test the replacement against the original goals
Use the same visitor tasks that informed the brief. Check key pages on mobile and desktop, verify forms and confirm important links. Ask the business owner to perform a routine content update as part of the handover.
After launch, monitor reported problems and the agreed measures. Allow for the effects of changed content and seasonal demand when interpreting results. Record what the redesign delivered without attributing every later business change to the website.
Coordinate design and hosting early
Bring the hosting provider into the launch plan before the final handover. Review Kilwhiss Host plans and contact us to discuss the technical requirements of your replacement site.