The Website Redesign Process, Step by Step
Last updated . The Google guidance was checked October 1, 2026. DeskTeam360's details were checked September 25, 2026.
A website redesign runs in six stages: review the current site, plan the pages and their addresses, design, build on a test copy, check and launch, then watch the site in the weeks after. Each stage ends with something you hand over or sign off, so no stage starts before the one it depends on is done.
DeskTeam360 runs this site. It's named below as one team that takes on redesigns.
What's the website redesign process?
It's the order of work that takes a site from its current version to the new one without losing what already works.
| Stage | What happens | What you hand over | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Review | Every page is listed, with the ones that bring visits and leads marked | Logins to the site and its analytics | A page list with what to keep |
| Plan | The new page list and each page's address are set | Your goals and the pages that have to stay | A site map and a redirect list |
| Design | Layouts for the key pages | Brand files and sites you like | Approved designs |
| Build | The new site goes up on a test copy | Final words and images | A working test site |
| Check and launch | Everything is tested, then the new site goes live | Your sign-off | The new live site |
| After launch | Visits, forms and errors are watched | Notes on anything that looks wrong | A fix list, worked through |
For when and why to redesign at all, see website redesign. For the plan document with owners and dates, see website redesign project plan.
What happens before any design work starts?
You take stock of what the current site does, so the new one keeps it.
- List every page, including old blog posts and landing pages.
- Mark the pages that matter, the ones that bring visits, calls or form fills.
- List the forms, tools and links to other software the site uses.
- Collect what's wrong from you, your staff and your customers.
- Set goals you can check later, like more form fills from the services pages.
- Set the budget. For what a redesign costs, see website redesign cost.
How do you plan pages and addresses for a redesign?
Write the new page list, then decide for every old page whether its address stays, moves or retires. When a page's address changes, Google recommends a permanent server-side redirect, such as a 301 or 308. Point each old address straight at its new page, not through a chain of redirects.
Keep it all in one sheet with three columns: old address, new address and status. For protecting your search rankings through the change, see website redesign SEO.
To write up the redesign tasks you'll hand to a designer or developer, you can get DeskTeam360's Task Delegation Template.
What happens during design and build?
Design the home page and one inside page first, approve them, then design the rest from those two. That keeps the look settled before the bulk of the work starts.
- Write the final words before the build, so pages are built around real text.
- Build on a test copy, not the live site.
- Set up the forms and tools from your list.
- Review each page against the page list and the designs.
- Fix and review again until each page is signed off.
DeskTeam360's team, for example, takes on redesigns and full rebuilds, as well as quick homepage updates.
What should you check before the new site goes live?
Check that everything on the plan is there and works, and that nothing from the test copy carries over.
- Every page on the list exists, with its words and images.
- Every form sends to the right inbox.
- Each old address goes straight to its new page, with no chains.
- The main pages load fast. For a good page, Google wants the main content on screen within 2.5 seconds.
- The noindex tag from the test copy is gone. That tag takes a page out of Google's results, and it only works when Google can crawl the page.
- Analytics and tracking are on the new site.
- A full backup of the old site is saved.
For the full move checklist, see website migration checklist.
What do you do in the weeks after launch?
Watch the site closely, fix what slipped through, and leave the redirects alone.
- Submit the new sitemap in Search Console, as Google says to do after a move.
- Watch for errors and broken links, and redirect any old address you missed.
- Keep the redirects in place as long as you can. Google says generally at least a year.
- Give search results time. Google treats a move as finished only once Googlebot has been to each old and new URL, and it doesn't promise how fast that happens.
- Check forms and leads every week for the first month.
- Keep a fix list and work through it.
If you'd rather hand the fix list to someone else, how to outsource, step by step walks through it.
More on redesign and migration
To split the redesign work between you and a helper, grab DeskTeam360's Task Delegation Template.
Sources
- Google Search Central, Site moves with URL changes
- Google Search Central, Redirects and Google Search
- Google Search Central, Core Web Vitals
- Google Search Central, Block indexing with noindex
- DeskTeam360, home page and web design and development page (deskteam360.com)
All checked October 1, 2026. DeskTeam360's pages were checked September 25, 2026.
What changed
- November 2, 2026: First version of this page.