The boring steps that keep a new site from losing the rankings the old one earned
A website redesign checklist has three parts. Before anyone touches the old site, save what works: every URL, the pages that bring traffic, the content, the logins, and wherever your email lives. During the build, map old pages to new, redirect every changed address, write for customers and keep the SEO basics. Then a short list before launch and another after. Skip the saving part and a redesign can erase years of Google rankings over one weekend.
We rebuilt a 33-page site for a Mount Pleasant painting company this month with nine redirects and the email untouched. The list below is the one we worked from.
Signs you need a new website
Not every old site needs replacing. These are the ones that do.
- It's hard to use on a phone. Tiny text, buttons too close together, pinching to zoom.
- You can't update it yourself, and the person who can doesn't call back.
- It's slow on cellular data.
- It describes the business you ran four years ago.
- People visit and the phone stays quiet.
- You'd rather hand someone a business card than send them the link.
- The platform it sits on is being shut down, or you can't get out of the plan.
Two or three of these and it's time.
The ten-second check
Open your current site on your phone, on cellular, and answer three things.
- Can you reach the phone number in one tap
- Does the first screen load before you lose patience
- Does it describe the business you run today
When to wait
- The site is fine and nobody finds it. That's a search problem, and local SEO is the cheaper fix.
- You're about to change the business name, services or location. Settle that first so you're not redesigning twice.
- Your busy season starts in two weeks. Launch in the slow stretch.
Before you start, save what's working
This is the part that protects your rankings. Do it before anyone touches the old site.
1. List every page on the current site
Write down every URL. A designer can crawl the site to get the full list. Include the old blog posts and the pages nobody linked from the menu.
2. Find the pages that bring traffic
If Google Search Console or Google Analytics is connected, check which pages get visits and which searches bring people in. Those pages carry over, with their content intact or improved.
3. Save the content
Copy the text, the photos and the reviews off the old site. Platforms can shut off access when a plan ends. Get everything out first.
4. Write down the logins
Domain registrar, hosting, Google Business Profile, Search Console, Analytics, email. Note who holds each one. Losing the domain login halfway through a redesign stops everything.
5. Check where your email lives
If your email runs on your own domain (you@yourbusiness.com), the DNS records that route it sit next to the ones that point at the website. Moving one without understanding the other breaks your inbox on launch day.
During the redesign
6. Map every old page to a new one
Most pages carry over. Some merge. A few go. Every old URL gets a destination written down before the build starts.
7. Redirect every changed URL
When a page's address changes, a 301 redirect sends the old address to the new one and tells Google the page moved. Skipping this step is the usual reason a fresh site loses the traffic the old one had.
8. Write for customers
A new look wrapped around the same vague copy brings no new calls. Say what you do, where you do it and how to reach you, in plain language, on the first screen.
9. Phone first
Most local customers see the site on a phone first, and Google indexes the phone version first (mobile-first indexing, per Google Search Central). Design and test on a phone, then check it on a desktop.
10. Keep the SEO basics
Every page needs a clear title and description, one main heading and text that says what the page is about.
The website redesign checklist before launch
- Every old URL has a matching page or a redirect
- The phone number is a tap-to-call button
- Every form sends to an inbox someone checks, and you've tested each one
- Pages load fast on a phone
- Titles and descriptions are filled in on every page
- Analytics and Search Console are connected to the new site
- Email still works after the DNS change
- The Google Business Profile website link points to the right page
After launch
- Submit the new sitemap in Search Console
- Watch Search Console for errors and pages that drop out
- Click through the old URLs to confirm each redirect lands
- Check calls and form submissions for the first few weeks
- Update your listings elsewhere if the address, phone or hours changed
Expect some movement in rankings for a few weeks. If traffic drops and stays down, check the redirects before anything else. The Google Business Profile basics post covers the listing side.
What a careful redesign looked like in Mount Pleasant
Palmetto Painting Contractors, an owner-operated house painter in Mount Pleasant, came to us on an older Wix site. The rebuild launched on October 6, 2026, with 33 pages, nine 301 redirects from the old URLs, and the company's Google Workspace email left exactly as it was. We built it with our partner ByteZero.
A redesign costs the same as a new site with us. $399 to design and launch up to five pages, $60 for each extra page, then a monthly plan from $199. The website redesign page has the full breakdown, and the website design cost guide covers what moves the price. How to choose a web designer has the ten questions to ask whoever does the work.
FAQ
When should I redesign my website?
When it's hard to use on a phone, slow, impossible to update, out of step with the services you offer now, or not bringing calls. If it looks fine and nobody finds it, fix the search side first.
Will a website redesign hurt my SEO?
It can, if old URLs aren't redirected or the pages that brought traffic get dropped. A page map, 301 redirects for every changed address, and Search Console watched for the first month protect what the old site earned.
How long does a website redesign take?
It depends on the page count and how fast content and approvals come back.
How much does a website redesign cost?
The same as a new site with us. $399 to design and launch up to five pages, $60 per extra page, then a monthly plan from $199. Larger rebuilds get a custom quote.
Should I redesign or start over from scratch?
If the URLs, photos and reviews are worth keeping, it's a redesign and the checklist above applies. If almost nothing on the old site is true anymore, start fresh, but still redirect the old URLs so the links and rankings aren't thrown away.
See the new homepage before you commit to anything
We design your new first screen before any invoice. Design my free mockup. Call (980) 983-7429.
Monday to Friday, 9 to 5 Eastern. Our AI receptionist answers, takes your details, and the team calls you back.