A website relaunch should start with an audit, not a design. List every page, check which ones bring traffic, links and leads, then decide for each whether to keep it, fix it or cut it. Redirect everything that moves, carry over titles and structure that already rank, and test before you launch. This checklist follows that order.
Why do relaunches lose traffic?
Because the new site is built to look better and nobody checks what the old one was doing. A redesign changes URLs, rewrites headlines, removes pages that quietly earned traffic and drops the internal links that held the structure together. Each change is small, and the total can be large.
The fix is to treat the relaunch as a controlled handover. Your current site has a track record with Google and with visitors. You want to keep the parts of it that work, and improve the rest. That requires knowing which is which, which is what an audit is for. Our website redesign work is audit first for this reason.
What should you audit before you redesign?
Collect the facts for the current site in one place. A spreadsheet with one row per URL is enough.
- URL, status code, title, meta description and H1 from a full crawl.
- Clicks and impressions per URL from Google Search Console.
- Backlinks per URL, from a link tool you already use.
- Conversions per page: form submissions, demo requests or whichever action matters to you.
- Internal links in and out.
- Page type and purpose: service, article, case study, utility.
- Speed and Core Web Vitals for the main templates.
Then look at the site as a visitor. Which pages do people reach first? Where do they leave? What do sales conversations say about the site? Numbers show what happens, and conversations show why.
If you want an outside view, our free website audit covers performance, SEO, design, technology and conversion. For common SEO problems to look for, read We audited 40 Webflow sites.
What should you keep?
Keep whatever already earns its place:
- Pages that rank and bring traffic. Keep their URLs, their main headings and the topics they cover.
- Pages with strong backlinks, even if the traffic is low.
- Pages that lead to conversions.
- Titles and descriptions that perform well in search.
- Content that answers a real question better than the alternatives.
- Technical assets that work: structured data, hreflang, working forms, tracking.
The rule is simple: if a page works, redesign around it. Do not rewrite a page that ranks just because the new design wants different copy.
What should you fix?
Fix problems that hold the current site back. A relaunch is the cheapest time to do it because the pages are changing anyway.
- Missing or duplicate titles and meta descriptions.
- Pages with no H1 or several H1 tags.
- Slow templates, oversized images and heavy scripts.
- Weak calls to action and forms that ask too much.
- Unclear messaging on the homepage and service pages.
- Broken links and redirect chains.
- Thin or overlapping pages that compete for the same query.
- Missing internal links between articles and the service pages they support.
Our Webflow SEO checklist for B2B websites covers the on-page and technical items in more detail.
What should you cut?
Cutting is the hardest part, because every page has someone who likes it. Use the data.
- Pages with no traffic, no links, no conversions and no purpose.
- Duplicates and near duplicates. Merge them into one stronger page.
- Outdated offers, old team members and event pages with no future value.
- Features that add weight and no value, such as autoplaying video or decorative animations that slow the page.
Do not simply delete. A removed page should redirect to the closest relevant page, or return a 410 when no page fits. Check backlinks first, since a page with no traffic can still hold links worth keeping.
How do you protect rankings during the relaunch?
Rankings survive when each old URL has a clear destination and the main on-page signals carry over.
- Keep URLs the same wherever you can.
- Build a redirect table for every URL that changes, one old URL to one new URL, pointing at the closest equivalent.
- Avoid redirect chains. Point old URLs at the final destination.
- Keep titles, descriptions, headings and structured data on pages that perform.
- Keep internal links in the new navigation and body copy.
- Update the XML sitemap and submit it in Search Console.
- Make sure nothing from the staging site goes live: noindex tags, blocked robots.txt, test content.
If the relaunch includes a platform change, the migration steps matter as much as the design. Read WordPress to Webflow migration: how to keep your rankings for the detailed process.
What do you test before launch?
Test on the staging site, on a phone and on a desktop.
- Every template and every key page type.
- Forms: submission, validation, confirmation page and notification email.
- Tracking and consent: analytics fire only when they should.
- Redirects: a sample of old URLs go to the right place with a 301.
- Titles, descriptions, canonicals and indexability on the main pages.
- Speed and Core Web Vitals on the main templates.
- Accessibility basics: contrast, focus states, alt text, heading order.
- Links: no broken internal links or links to staging.
- The 404 page and the behaviour of search and filters, where they exist.
Fix what you find, and then test again. A relaunch day is a bad time to find a broken form.
What do you check after launch?
Crawl the live site and compare it with your audit spreadsheet. Check Search Console for crawl errors and for 404s on URLs that used to get traffic. Compare clicks and impressions for your top pages with the figures you recorded before. Check that leads still arrive, which means submitting your own forms and watching the inbox, plus the conversion numbers in your analytics.
Keep the redirects in place for a long time. Google's guidance for site moves is a year at minimum. Fix what the first crawl shows, then review again after the next batch of crawls.
Who should be involved in a relaunch?
A relaunch touches more than the marketing team. Sales knows which pages prospects mention. Customer support knows which questions come up repeatedly. Whoever manages the domain and DNS needs to be ready on launch day, and whoever owns analytics needs to confirm that tracking carries over. Name an owner for each of these before the project starts, and agree who can say yes to a change late in the process.
Write down the goals too, in terms you can check: more qualified enquiries, a faster site, a clearer message, easier editing for the team. A redesign without a goal has no way to tell you whether it worked, and the audit numbers you collected give you the baseline to compare against.
FAQ
What is the difference between a website redesign and a relaunch?
A redesign changes how the site looks and often how it is structured. A relaunch is the act of putting the new site live. In practice people use the words interchangeably, and both need the same care with URLs, redirects and content.
How do I avoid losing SEO rankings when relaunching a website?
Keep URLs stable where possible, redirect every URL that changes, carry over titles, headings and structured data on pages that rank, and keep your internal links. Crawl the staging site before launch and the live site after.
Should I rewrite all my content for a relaunch?
No. Rewrite what is weak or outdated, and keep what ranks and converts. Replacing working content because the design calls for different copy is a common way to lose traffic.
How do I know which pages to cut?
Look at traffic, backlinks, conversions and purpose for each URL. A page with none of those is a candidate. Redirect it to the closest relevant page or remove it with a 410.
Do I need a new website or just a fix?
An audit answers this. If the structure, messaging and technology are sound and specific pages underperform, fixes are enough. If the platform, structure or brand no longer fit, a redesign makes sense. Our free website audit is a way to find out.