When It’s Time for a Website Redesign
A website redesign is one of the most impactful investments a business can make but only if it’s done right. Too many businesses redesign their site based on aesthetics alone (“it looks outdated”) without addressing the underlying issues that actually affect performance. The result is a prettier website that still doesn’t generate leads, still loads slowly and still doesn’t rank in Google.
This checklist ensures your redesign addresses every factor that impacts your online success. Whether you’re working with a professional agency or managing the project internally, these are the items that separate a redesign that transforms your business from one that just burns budget.
Pre-Redesign Research Phase
Audit Your Current Performance
Before changing anything you need to understand what’s working and what isn’t. Many businesses accidentally destroy their best-performing pages during a redesign because they didn’t know those pages were generating traffic and leads.
- Export your Google Analytics data for the past 12 months. Identify your top 10 pages by traffic and top 10 by conversions. These pages must be preserved or improved during the redesign, never removed.
- Run a Google Search Console export showing which keywords currently drive traffic. Your redesigned site needs to maintain or improve rankings for these terms.
- Document your current conversion rate. If you’re getting 500 visitors and 10 leads monthly (2% conversion rate), your redesigned site should target 3-5% minimum.
- Test your current site speed on PageSpeed Insights. Record your scores so you can measure improvement after launch.
- List every page on your current site and decide: keep, merge, update or remove. This prevents orphaned pages and broken links after launch.
Research Your Competition
- Visit your top 5 competitors’ websites and note what they do well. What features do they have that you don’t? What’s their messaging strategy?
- Check their page speed scores. If competitors are faster than you, that’s a ranking disadvantage you need to address.
- Analyze their content depth. If competitors have 2,000-word service pages and you have 200-word pages, you know where the content gap is.
- Note their calls-to-action. How do they convert visitors? What can you learn from their approach?
Design and UX Phase
Mobile-First Design Requirements
- Design for mobile screens first then scale up to desktop. Over 60% of your traffic comes from phones.
- Minimum tap target size of 44×44 pixels for all buttons and links on mobile.
- No horizontal scrolling on any device at any screen width.
- Text readable without zooming (minimum 16px font size on mobile).
- Forms optimized for mobile input with appropriate keyboard types (number pad for phone fields, email keyboard for email fields).
- Click-to-call phone numbers on every page visible on mobile.
Conversion-Focused Layout
- Clear value proposition above the fold on every landing page. Visitors should understand what you do and why they should care within 3 seconds.
- Primary CTA visible without scrolling on desktop and mobile.
- Social proof (reviews, testimonials, trust badges) placed near decision points.
- Contact information visible on every page without hunting for it.
- Simplified navigation with no more than 7 main menu items.
- Sticky header or floating CTA so the action button is always accessible.
- Exit-intent or scroll-triggered CTAs for visitors who haven’t converted.
Content and SEO Phase
On-Page SEO Checklist
- Unique title tags for every page (under 60 characters, include target keyword).
- Compelling meta descriptions for every page (under 155 characters, include CTA).
- One H1 tag per page containing the primary keyword naturally.
- Logical heading hierarchy (H2, H3, H4) that outlines the content structure.
- Internal links connecting related pages throughout the site.
- Alt text on every image describing what the image shows (include keywords where natural).
- Schema markup for business info, FAQs, reviews and services.
- Canonical tags to prevent duplicate content issues.
- XML sitemap generated and submitted to Google Search Console.
Content Requirements
- Service pages minimum 800-1,500 words with genuine helpful information not keyword-stuffed filler.
- Location pages for every city you serve with unique content for each (not just city name swaps).
- FAQ sections on key pages answering real questions your customers ask.
- Blog or resources section for ongoing content marketing and topical authority building.
- About page with real photos, team bios and your company story.
- Testimonials integrated throughout not just on a dedicated page nobody visits.
Technical Performance Phase
Speed Optimization Checklist
- Target: under 2.5 seconds load time on mobile (measured by Largest Contentful Paint).
- Images compressed and served in WebP format with lazy loading for below-fold images.
- CSS and JavaScript minified and combined where possible.
- Render-blocking resources eliminated or deferred.
- Server-side caching configured (page cache, object cache, browser cache).
- CDN (Content Delivery Network) active for static assets.
- Database optimized with unnecessary data cleaned out.
- Hosting adequate for your traffic (shared hosting is rarely sufficient for business sites).
For professional speed optimization that addresses all of these factors, consider working with experts who specialize in WordPress performance.
Security Checklist
- SSL certificate installed (HTTPS on all pages, no mixed content warnings).
- WordPress core, themes and plugins updated to latest versions.
- Security plugin active with firewall, malware scanning and login protection.
- Automatic backups configured (daily minimum, stored off-server).
- Strong passwords enforced for all admin accounts.
- Two-factor authentication enabled for admin access.
- File permissions set correctly (644 for files, 755 for directories).
Launch Phase
Pre-Launch Checklist
- 301 redirects mapped from every old URL to its new equivalent. This is the most commonly missed step and causes massive SEO damage when skipped.
- All forms tested and confirmed receiving submissions in the correct inbox.
- All links checked for broken URLs (use a crawler like Screaming Frog).
- Cross-browser testing on Chrome, Safari, Firefox and Edge.
- Cross-device testing on iPhone, Android, iPad and desktop.
- Google Analytics and Search Console connected and tracking.
- Conversion tracking configured for form submissions, phone calls and other goals.
- Favicon and social sharing images set correctly.
- Privacy policy and terms pages updated and linked in footer.
- Google Business Profile updated with new website URL if changed.
Post-Launch Monitoring
- Monitor Google Search Console daily for the first 2 weeks. Watch for crawl errors, indexing issues or ranking drops.
- Check all forms again 24 hours after launch (things break in production that worked in staging).
- Monitor site speed under real traffic conditions.
- Watch conversion rates compared to pre-redesign baseline. If they drop, investigate immediately.
- Submit updated sitemap to Google Search Console.
- Request re-indexing of your most important pages.
Common Redesign Mistakes That Kill SEO
| Mistake | Impact | Prevention |
|---|---|---|
| No 301 redirects | Lose all existing rankings overnight | Map every old URL to new URL before launch |
| Removing high-traffic pages | Lose organic traffic immediately | Audit analytics before removing any page |
| Changing URL structure | Temporary ranking drops (2-6 months) | Keep URLs the same when possible |
| Thin content on new pages | Rankings drop due to less content value | Maintain or increase content depth |
| Slower page speed | Rankings and conversions both drop | Test speed before and after, optimize aggressively |
| Missing meta data | CTR drops in search results | Transfer all title tags and meta descriptions |
Frequently Asked Questions
How often should a business redesign their website?
Most businesses benefit from a full redesign every 3-5 years with ongoing updates and optimizations between redesigns. If your site is generating leads consistently and performing well in search, cosmetic updates may be all you need. If your conversion rate is declining, competitors are outperforming you or your site doesn’t work well on mobile, it’s time regardless of age.
How much does a website redesign cost in Minnesota?
Professional website redesigns in Minnesota typically range from $3,000 to $15,000+ depending on the number of pages, custom features, content creation needs and SEO migration complexity. A 5-page service business site is on the lower end while a 50-page site with e-commerce, custom integrations and extensive content is on the higher end. Get a free estimate based on your specific needs.
Will I lose my Google rankings during a redesign?
Not if it’s done correctly. Proper 301 redirects, maintained content quality and preserved URL structures prevent ranking loss. Some temporary fluctuation (1-2 weeks) is normal as Google re-crawls your site. However, a poorly executed redesign without redirects can destroy years of SEO progress overnight. This is why working with an agency that understands both web design and SEO is critical.
Should I redesign my whole site at once or do it in phases?
For most small businesses a full redesign launched at once is cleaner and more effective. Phased approaches work for large sites (100+ pages) where redesigning everything simultaneously isn’t practical. The risk with phased approaches is inconsistent user experience during the transition and more complex redirect management.
Ready for a Redesign That Actually Drives Results?
Contact Mankato Web Design for a free website audit and redesign consultation. We’ll evaluate your current site against this entire checklist, identify the biggest opportunities for improvement and provide a clear plan with transparent pricing. Our 150+ five-star reviews from Minnesota businesses prove we deliver redesigns that don’t just look better but perform measurably better in search results and lead generation.
