The new website looks better. The navigation is simpler, the type is clearer, and the homepage finally explains the business. Then someone notices that a service page customers used to find through Google has disappeared.
That is the risk a website redesign SEO checklist should address. Before choosing what to replace, establish what the existing site does for the business. A page that looks dated may still attract relevant enquiries. Its value does not appear in a design preview.
For a business commissioning a redesign, the useful question is: what can we improve, and what must continue working on launch day?
Start with a preservation list
Create a record of existing pages, posts and important downloads. Add the current URL, page purpose, title, meta description, main heading, canonical URL and indexability. Record internal links and the action a visitor can take.
Where access permits, add search clicks and queries from Search Console, and landing-page and enquiry data from analytics. Mark missing evidence clearly. No recorded conversions may mean tracking is incomplete; it does not prove a page is unnecessary.
This list becomes the reference against which a new design is checked. It also gives the agency and business owner a shared answer when someone suggests removing a page.
Give important pages an explicit treatment
For every existing page, write one of four decisions: retain, redesign, merge or remove. Give the decision an owner and a reason. Redesign is a visual or usability decision; merging and removal also change what the site offers readers.
Suppose a business has separate brand strategy and website development pages. Combining both into a broad “Solutions” page might look cleaner in a menu, yet leave a visitor with less relevant detail. Review the intent and evidence behind each page before consolidating it.
If the work is primarily visual, retaining useful URLs avoids introducing a separate migration task. A new layout does not require a new slug.
Map URL changes individually
When a URL genuinely needs to change, identify its closest relevant destination before launch. Test the redirect and the final page. Sending every removed URL to the homepage is not a substitute for matching the visitor’s original purpose.
Google’s site-move guidance covers URL mapping, redirects and monitoring. It also recommends separating major changes where possible. A domain move, CMS replacement and full content rewrite create more variables than a layout refresh alone.
For a redesign with unchanged URLs, check those URLs directly. Do not add redirects simply because a page has a new appearance.
Review rendered content, not just editor fields
An editor can contain the right text while a template displays something else. Check the public page: main heading, body copy, images, links and contact action. Inspect a representative article as well as the homepage.
Keep useful metadata as a recorded baseline. If a title or description also needs editorial improvement, track that as a deliberate change instead of allowing a new template to replace it silently.
Pay particular attention to staging settings. Access restrictions or noindex instructions used during development must not accidentally carry over to public pages that should be discoverable.
Treat enquiries as a journey
A working button is only the first step. Follow a realistic enquiry from the service page to the form, confirmation and destination inbox or CRM. Check the phone number, email link and WhatsApp destination on a mobile device.
Use an agreed test submission and confirm its receipt. Establish who will remove test records and how the team distinguishes them from real prospects. Do not infer successful delivery from a thank-you message alone.
Record the analytics events already used for enquiries. Replacing a form or changing its confirmation behaviour can affect measurement even when the page URL stays the same.
Use a short launch acceptance sheet
Ask the team to provide evidence for these checks:
- Important existing URLs load the intended content.
- Approved URL changes reach relevant destinations.
- Page titles, descriptions, headings and canonical references match the agreed plan.
- Public pages have the intended indexability settings.
- Navigation, forms and contact links work on desktop and mobile.
- Enquiry delivery and analytics events have been tested.
- A restorable backup and a named rollback owner are available.
Check the templates that behave differently: service pages, articles, archives and project pages. Testing one attractive homepage does not test the whole site.
Keep watching after launch
Save a dated baseline, then monitor important landing pages, search visibility, errors and enquiries. Separate technical problems from normal variation and allow for reporting delays. A movement in one day’s traffic does not establish its cause.
AdLift Media offers website design, development and digital marketing. A useful redesign brief connects the new experience with the existing pages and enquiry journeys worth protecting. Our brand and website brief guide can help organise that conversation.
Discuss your website redesign with AdLift Media. Bring the current website, the problems you want to solve and any analytics access available, so the scope starts with evidence.
