A redesign shouldn't cost you the rankings you've built. Rankings are usually lost when pages disappear, URLs change without redirects or tracking stops working at launch.
This checklist covers what to do before, during and after launch, so search engines and returning visitors land on the right new page.
List every current URL
Record what ranks and converts
Map old URLs to new pages
Set up 301 redirects
Test redirects, forms and tracking
Watch Search Console after launch
Planning a redesign? We map every current URL before anything changes.
Search engines have learned which of your pages answer which searches, and other websites link to specific addresses on your site.
When a redesign removes pages, changes URLs or rewrites content without a plan, that history is lost and visitors land on error pages instead.
Before anything changes, record the rankings, traffic and enquiries for your key pages. Without a baseline, it's hard to tell after launch whether something has gone wrong.
A URL map is a spreadsheet listing every current URL beside the new page it will become. It shows which pages are kept, merged or removed, and it becomes the list of redirects to set up at launch.
A 301 redirect tells browsers and search engines that a page has moved permanently. Visitors and links to the old address reach the new page, and search engines can pass the old page's standing on to it.
On every redesign, we map each current URL before anything changes, keep or improve the pages that bring in traffic, and test redirects, tracking and forms before and after launch. Rankings can move for a short time after any relaunch, so we watch Search Console closely.
The checklist
Work through these in order. Each one protects something the current site already earns.
Crawl the site and export every URL, including posts and PDFs
Export pages with clicks and impressions from Search Console
Note the pages that bring in enquiries
Record each page's title, meta description and H1
Check which pages other sites link to
Keep the URLs that rank wherever you can
Map every old URL to its closest new page
Carry over or improve the content that ranks
Write a unique title and description for every page
Build on a staging site that search engines can't index
Set up 301 redirects for every URL that changes
Make sure the live site isn't blocking search engines
Submit the new XML sitemap in Search Console
Test forms, analytics and conversion tracking
Check redirects for errors and chains
Watch Search Console for crawl errors and dropped pages
Compare rankings and traffic with your baseline
Planning a redesign?
Book a free 30-minute call and we'll talk through your current site, what it already earns and how to protect it.
