Website redesign checklist: keep your SEO and conversions
A new design can double conversions — or wipe out years of search traffic overnight. This checklist covers what to check before, during and after a redesign.
Redesigns fail in predictable ways: pages disappear without redirects, content gets “simplified” away, tracking breaks, and nobody notices until leads drop. Here is how we prevent that.
Before you start
- Export all URLs with traffic, rankings and backlinks
- Record current conversion rates and lead sources
- List the pages that bring the most leads — they are untouchable
- Agree on what the redesign must improve, in numbers
During the redesign
- Keep URLs where possible; map every changed URL to a 301 redirect
- Move content, not only design — titles, headings, FAQ, structured data
- Design forms and calls to action first, not last
- Test on real phones, not only in browser resize
Launch day
- Check redirects, robots.txt and the sitemap
- Verify analytics, pixels and conversion events
- Submit the sitemap in Search Console
- Have a rollback plan
After launch
Watch Search Console, rankings and leads daily for the first two weeks, then weekly. Small drops are normal while search engines re-crawl; a steady decline means something was lost and needs fixing quickly.
A redesign done this way is not a risk but a growth step. If you are planning one, our website redesign process includes SEO migration from day one.