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Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →A successful website redesign starts with a defined audience problem and measurable goals—not a new look. Plan it as a change to user journeys, content, technology, search visibility, staff workflows, and measurement. Audit what the current site does, decide what must change, then move through planning, design, migration, testing, launch, and review with named owners at every stage.
What should a website redesign project achieve?
Write the problem in one sentence before discussing colors, templates, or platforms. It might be that visitors cannot find a service, staff cannot keep essential information current, or the site no longer supports the organization’s priorities. Then identify the audiences affected and the tasks they need to complete.
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Translate that problem into outcomes you can observe. Choose measures tied to the intended change—for example, completion of a key form, use of a service page, or successful navigation to important information. Record the current baseline before changing the site or its tracking, and decide how each measure will be collected. Assign a person with authority to resolve scope and launch decisions. Stanford University’s Open Source Lab checklist recommends agreement among stakeholders on the need for a redesign and a summary of current usage; Antibe’s checklist also emphasizes baselines for key actions and planned post-launch reviews.
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Build an inventory of pages and URLs, then identify the parts of the site that carry value or create obligations. Look beyond the homepage: search landing pages, important user journeys, forms, integrations, content types, and staff publishing processes can all be affected by a redesign.
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- Record which pages to keep, revise, combine, or remove. Do not assume every existing page should move to the new site.
- Identify high-value search landing pages and URLs that visitors or other sites may still use.
- List forms, CRM or email connections, analytics, and other integrations that must continue working.
- Note who creates and maintains each type of content, how often it needs review, and whether those people can keep it accurate after launch.
- Capture technical constraints and maintenance burdens, including platform limits and internal skills.
Stanford’s checklist calls attention to content ownership and ongoing maintenance. The Share Trust’s 2026 redesign request for proposals includes audience analysis, a content audit, and technical assessment among its discovery tasks. Together, these are reasons to treat the audit as a decision-making tool, not simply a count of pages.
Who needs to own the work?
Name a decision-maker and a project manager, then make responsibility explicit for the work that can otherwise fall between teams. One person may cover several roles on a small project; the important thing is to identify gaps, approval points, and bottlenecks before they delay delivery.
| Responsibility | What the owner needs to cover |
|---|---|
| Decisions and schedule | Scope, approvals, priorities, dependencies, and launch readiness |
| Content strategy | Page purpose, content inventory, ownership, revisions, and publishing workflow |
| User experience and information architecture | Audience tasks, navigation, page hierarchy, and representative journeys |
| Design and development | Templates, responsive behavior, implementation, integrations, and technical recovery |
| Accessibility and quality assurance | Planned checks for keyboard use, focus, labels, content, forms, and supported devices |
| Search and analytics | URL migration, metadata, crawlability, measurement setup, and post-launch monitoring |
| Ongoing maintenance | System updates, backups, content review, staff training, and support after launch |
Record constraints that shape the plan: budget, timing, platform capabilities, available skills, integrations, and approval requirements. Keep a shared schedule and evaluate proposed scope changes against their effects on time, cost, and user or organizational value. Stanford’s checklist advises teams to combine roles where appropriate while identifying skill gaps and likely bottlenecks.
How should you plan the structure and user experience?
Use audience tasks to shape navigation and page types. Draft a sitemap and content hierarchy before spending time polishing visual details. Give each important page a clear purpose and a next action so visitors can understand what it is for and where to go next.
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Prototype representative pages and journeys
Create prototypes for the templates and journeys that matter most, then ask people who match the intended audiences to complete realistic tasks. Observe where they hesitate, misunderstand labels, or take an unexpected route; revise the structure based on what happens. Stanford’s checklist recommends prototyping and user testing as part of the redesign process.
Test mobile as its own experience
Check whether key tasks work on target mobile devices rather than assuming a desktop layout will translate well. Test the navigation, content clarity, forms, and next actions at mobile sizes as well as tablet and desktop breakpoints. Antibe’s checklist includes mobile experience among the areas to plan and assess.
How do you choose a CMS and technical approach?
Choose technology around actual publishing and operational needs, not a platform’s popularity. Assess what staff need to edit, the content types the site requires, existing integrations, security and performance needs, migration effort, internal expertise, and the availability of long-term support.
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- Confirm that the system supports the editing workflow and content structure the team has planned.
- Identify who will maintain the platform, arrange backups, and handle recovery or version control.
- Account for integrations and security requirements during technical assessment, not as late-stage additions.
- Plan staff training and maintenance documentation so the organization can operate the site after launch.
The Share Trust’s 2026 request for proposals treats CMS selection as part of technical assessment and asks for staff training and ongoing maintenance documentation. It names WordPress as one possible CMS for that project; that is an example in a specific procurement, not a universal recommendation.
How can you protect search visibility during migration?
Treat URL changes as a planned migration. Save the existing URL list and identify important organic landing pages before pages move, disappear, or receive new addresses. Preserve useful content and avoid changing URLs without a clear reason.
- Inventory old URLs and flag pages that attract search visitors or serve important audiences.
- For every URL that will change or be removed, choose the most relevant destination on the new site. Do not send unrelated pages to a generic destination simply to avoid a missing-page response.
- Prepare permanent redirects for the mapped URLs before launch.
- Test redirects against the saved inventory, including their final destinations.
- Review titles, headings, internal links, canonical URLs, the sitemap, and crawlability on the new site.
Antibe’s migration checklist specifically covers URL inventory, mapping, redirects, sitemap alignment, and redirect testing. Keeping those checks together makes it easier to find broken routes before visitors and search engines encounter them.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What should you test before launch?
Test the site against real tasks and the systems that support them. Review important templates across target mobile, tablet, and desktop breakpoints, then check both what visitors see and what staff rely on behind the scenes.
- Check page content, links, titles, headings, and metadata for accuracy.
- Submit forms and verify that CRM or email connections, confirmation messages, and analytics events work as intended.
- Check consent behavior and confirm that tracking is measured as planned.
- Use the keyboard to check navigation, focus states, labels, and form feedback.
- Assess performance on real templates, including oversized media, unnecessary scripts, and layout movement.
- Review redirect behavior and confirm that the sitemap and crawl settings reflect the production site.
These checks help find practical problems, but completing a checklist alone does not establish conformance with a particular accessibility standard. Make a standards-compliance claim only when a defined audit and supporting evidence justify it.
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How should you manage launch and post-launch review?
Choose a launch window when appropriate technical support is available. Before replacing the current site, confirm stakeholder approval, recovery procedures or backups, redirect readiness, analytics, and removal of staging noindex or crawl-blocking rules. Assign named owners for launch-day checks and for investigating issues afterward.
After launch, monitor key landing pages, search coverage and clicks, form submissions, integrations, device-specific performance, and conversion events. Record unexpected behavior and investigate it before deciding what to change. Use observed outcomes to prioritize improvements rather than treating another redesign as the automatic answer.
How should you compare project proposals or delivery options?
Compare proposals against the same needs and constraints rather than choosing on visual presentation or platform alone. Check whether the scope includes:
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- Audience needs and the tasks the redesigned site must support
- Content structure, ownership, and staff publishing workflows
- Accessibility planning and mobile experience
- Search migration, including URL mapping and redirect testing
- CMS editing needs, integrations, and ongoing maintainability
- Analytics setup and a plan to measure the intended outcomes
- Named roles, approval steps, schedule, and post-launch support
- Cost tied to clearly described deliverables and constraints
There is no single CMS, timeline, or budget that fits every redesign. Stanford’s checklist gives a planning note of 6 months to 2 years for a redesign, but it is contextual guidance, not a measured industry average. The Share Trust’s 2026 request for proposals anticipated $20,000–$30,000 for that organization’s particular scope and planned an October 2026 launch; neither figure should be treated as a general market estimate or recommendation.
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