Website Redesign Checklist: 50 Steps from Strategy to Launch

A website redesign is one of the highest-leverage projects a business can undertake. Done right, it improves conversion rates, reduces bounce, strengthens brand perception, and directly impacts revenue. Done wrong, it wastes months of budget, tanks SEO rankings, and launches a site that performs worse than the old one.

This 50-step checklist is the exact framework we use at UI Designer for every redesign project. It covers strategy, UX, design, development, SEO, and launch — so nothing falls through the cracks.

Phase 1: Strategy & Discovery (Steps 1–8)

1. Define the Business Case

Document *why* you are redesigning. Is it low conversion? Outdated brand? Poor mobile experience? Replatforming? Every decision downstream should trace back to this.

2. Set Measurable Goals (KPIs)

Define success metrics with baselines and targets:

• Conversion rate (current → target)
• Average order value / lead value
• Organic traffic (sessions, keywords)
• Page load speed (LCP, INP, CLS)
• Bounce rate / engagement time
• Accessibility score (WCAG level)

3. Audit the Current Site

Run a comprehensive audit covering:

• **Analytics**: Top pages, exit pages, user flows, device breakdown
• **SEO**: Current rankings, indexed pages, backlink profile, technical issues
• **Performance**: Core Web Vitals, Lighthouse scores, real-user metrics
• **Accessibility**: Automated scan + manual keyboard/screen reader test
• **Content**: ROT analysis (Redundant, Outdated, Trivial)
• **Technical**: CMS version, plugin debt, security vulnerabilities, hosting

4. Interview Stakeholders & Users

• Internal: Sales, support, marketing, leadership (what do they hear from customers?)
• External: 5–8 user interviews or unmoderated usability tests on current site
• Competitive: 3–5 competitor sites analyzed for strengths, gaps, conventions

5. Define Target Audiences & Personas

Create 2–4 primary personas with:

• Demographics, role, goals, pain points
• Key tasks on the website
• Objections and decision criteria
• Device and context of use

6. Map User Journeys

For each persona, map the current and ideal journey:

• Entry points (organic, paid, direct, referral)
• Key pages visited
• Conversion funnel steps
• Drop-off points (from analytics)
• Post-conversion experience

7. Conduct Content Strategy Workshop

Decide: What stays, what goes, what needs rewriting, what needs creating. Assign ownership for each content piece. Create a content production calendar aligned with design timeline.

8. Choose the Right Platform/CMS

Evaluate against requirements (not preferences):

• Content model flexibility
• Editor experience for your team
• Developer extensibility
• Performance baseline
• Security track record
• Total cost of ownership (licensing, hosting, maintenance)
• *Common choices: WordPress, Sanity, Contentful, Strapi, Statamic, custom*

Phase 2: UX & Information Architecture (Steps 9–16)

9. Create or Refine Sitemap

• Card sort with stakeholders/users if IA is changing significantly
• Define primary, secondary, and utility navigation
• Plan for scalability (where do new sections live?)
• Document URL structure and redirect map early

10. Define Page Types & Templates

Audit every unique page layout needed. Typical set:

• Homepage
• Landing page variants (campaign, product, solution)
• Content pages (About, Team, Careers, Press)
• Blog/Resource center (listing, category, article)
• Product/Service pages (listing, detail, comparison)
• Conversion pages (Contact, Demo, Quote, Checkout)
• User account (Dashboard, Settings, Billing)
• Legal (Privacy, Terms, Cookie Policy)
• 404, Search results, Thank you

11. Design User Flows for Critical Paths

Flowchart the top 3–5 conversion paths:

• Anonymous → Lead → MQL → SQL
• Visitor → Product page → Cart → Checkout → Order confirmation
• User → Login → Dashboard → Key action → Success state

12. Create Low-Fidelity Wireframes

Wireframe every template type. Focus on:

• Content hierarchy and priority
• Component placement (not visual design)
• Responsive behavior (mobile ↔ desktop)
• Edge cases (empty states, long content, errors)

13. Validate Wireframes with Stakeholders

Walk through each wireframe. Get sign-off on structure *before* visual design. Changes here cost 10x less than in high-fidelity or code.

14. Define Component Library Requirements

List every reusable component needed:

• Navigation (header, footer, mega menu, breadcrumbs)
• Content blocks (hero, feature grid, testimonial, CTA banner)
• Forms (contact, lead capture, checkout, search, filters)
• Media (image gallery, video embed, carousel, accordion)
• Data display (tables, pricing cards, comparison, stats)
• Feedback (toast, modal, tooltip, progress)

15. Plan Accessibility from the Start

• Define heading hierarchy rules
• Specify focus states for every interactive element
• Plan skip links, landmark regions, ARIA labels
• Choose color palette meeting WCAG AA contrast (4.5:1 text, 3:1 UI)
• Document alt text guidelines for content team

16. Create Functional Prototype

Build clickable prototype in Figma for:

• Primary user flows
• Responsive breakpoints
• Key interactions (dropdowns, modals, accordions)
• Conduct 5-user usability test on prototype

Phase 3: Visual Design & Design System (Steps 17–26)

17. Establish Visual Direction

Moodboard with 3 distinct directions. Present to stakeholders with rationale tied to brand strategy and user personas. Get decision on *one* direction.

18. Define Design Tokens

Create the single source of truth for:

• Color palette (primary, secondary, semantic, neutral, data viz)
• Typography scale (font families, sizes, line heights, weights)
• Spacing scale (base unit, multiples, component padding)
• Border radius, shadows, elevation
• Breakpoints (mobile, tablet, desktop, wide)
• Animation/transition tokens (duration, easing)
• Z-index scale

19. Design Core Components in Figma

Build each component as a Figma component with:

• Variants (size, state, content variations)
• Auto-layout for responsiveness
• Documentation (usage, do/don't, accessibility notes)
• Mapping to code component names

20. Design All Page Templates (High-Fidelity)

Apply components to every template. Design for:

• Real content (not lorem ipsum)
• Realistic data densities
• All breakpoints (320px, 768px, 1024px, 1440px+)
• Dark mode (if required)
• Print stylesheet (if needed)

21. Design System Documentation

Create a living design system site (Storybook, Zeroheight, Figma DevMode, or Notion):

• Component library with code snippets
• Design token reference
• Accessibility guidelines
• Contribution process
• Versioning and changelog

22. Design Review & Sign-Off

Formal review with:

• Stakeholders (brand, marketing, product)
• Lead developer (feasibility, performance flags)
• Accessibility reviewer (if separate)
• Document approved versions with version numbers

23. Prepare Developer Handoff

In Figma DevMode or equivalent:

• Annotated specs (spacing, typography, colors)
• Asset exports (SVG icons, WebP images at 1x/2x/3x)
• Interaction specs (hover, focus, active, disabled, loading)
• Responsive behavior notes
• Component-to-code mapping

24. Create Design QA Checklist

Define what "design fidelity" means for developers:

• Pixel tolerance (e.g., ±2px spacing, ±1px typography)
• Font rendering expectations
• Animation fidelity
• Breakpoint behavior
• Component variant coverage

25. Plan for Design Maintenance

• Who owns the Figma file post-launch?
• How are design changes requested and prioritized?
• Design system versioning strategy
• Design token sync with code (Style Dictionary, Tokens Studio)

26. Archive & Version Control

• Tag approved design version in Figma
• Export PDF of all screens for reference
• Store design rationale for future decisions

Phase 4: Development & Implementation (Steps 27–38)

27. Set Up Project Infrastructure

• Repository with branching strategy (main, develop, feature branches)
• CI/CD pipeline (lint, typecheck, test, build, deploy preview)
• Development environment (Docker, dev containers, or local stack)
• Code quality tools (ESLint, Prettier, Stylelint, Husky)
• Component library setup (Storybook, Chromatic)

28. Implement Design Tokens in Code

• Convert Figma tokens to code (Style Dictionary, Tailwind config, CSS custom properties)
• Automate token sync from Figma → code
• Verify token parity with visual regression tests

29. Build Component Library (Code)

Develop each component with:

• TypeScript interfaces for props
• Storybook stories for all variants
• Unit tests (Vitest/Jest + React Testing Library)
• Accessibility tests (axe-core in CI)
• Visual regression tests (Chromatic/Percy)
• Documentation (MDX/Storybook Docs)

30. Implement Page Templates

Build each template using components:

• Server-side rendering (Next.js, Nuxt, Astro) or SSG
• Responsive layouts matching designs
• SEO metadata components (dynamic per page)
• Structured data (JSON-LD) per template type

31. CMS Integration & Content Modeling

• Define content types matching page templates
• Build modular content blocks (portable text, component mapping)
• Set up preview mode (draft content visible in preview)
• Configure image optimization (responsive srcset, WebP/AVIF)
• Content migration scripts (if replatforming)

32. Build Custom Functionality

• Forms with validation, spam protection, analytics events
• Search (Algolia, Meilisearch, or native)
• User authentication (NextAuth, Clerk, custom)
• E-commerce (Shopify Hydrogen, Medusa, custom)
• Integrations (CRM, marketing automation, analytics)

33. Implement Analytics & Tracking

• GA4 / Matomo / Plausible setup
• Event taxonomy (naming convention, parameters)
• Enhanced e-commerce (if applicable)
• Consent management (cookie banner, GDPR/CCPA)
• Server-side tracking (for accuracy)

34. Performance Optimization

• Image optimization (next/image, picture element, AVIF/WebP)
• Font optimization (subset, preload, font-display: swap)
• Code splitting (dynamic imports, route-level)
• Caching strategy (static assets, API responses, HTML)
• Third-party script audit (remove, defer, or self-host)
• Bundle analysis (webpack-bundle-analyzer, @next/bundle-analyzer)

35. Accessibility Implementation

• Semantic HTML (landmarks, headings, lists, buttons, links)
• Keyboard navigation (focus order, skip links, focus trapping)
• ARIA only where HTML cannot achieve the same
• Screen reader testing (NVDA, VoiceOver, TalkBack)
• Color contrast verification in browser
• Reduced motion support

36. Cross-Browser & Device Testing

Test matrix:

• Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge (latest 2 versions)
• iOS Safari, Chrome Android (latest 2)
• Viewports: 320, 375, 768, 1024, 1440, 1920
• Real devices (not just emulators): iPhone, Android, iPad, desktop

37. SEO Technical Implementation

• Unique, descriptive titles and meta descriptions per page
• Canonical URLs, hreflang (if multilingual)
• XML sitemap (auto-generated from CMS)
• robots.txt (allow CSS/JS, disallow admin)
• Structured data: Organization, BreadcrumbList, Article, Product, FAQPage
• Redirect map implemented (301 for all changed URLs)
• Core Web Vitals monitoring in place

38. Security Hardening

• HTTPS everywhere (HSTS, secure cookies)
• Content Security Policy (CSP) headers
• X-Frame-Options, X-Content-Type-Options, Referrer-Policy
• Dependency scanning (npm audit, Snyk, Dependabot)
• Form spam protection (honeypot, reCAPTCHA v3, Cloudflare Turnstile)
• Rate limiting on APIs
• Input validation and sanitization

Phase 5: Content Population & QA (Steps 39–44)

39. Content Entry in CMS

• Populate all pages with final approved content
• Write alt text for every meaningful image
• Configure SEO fields per page
• Set up redirects in CMS or hosting layer

40. Design QA (Design Review in Browser)

Designer compares live implementation against Figma:

• Visual fidelity (spacing, typography, colors, shadows)
• Component variant coverage
• Responsive behavior at all breakpoints
• Interaction fidelity (hover, focus, loading, error states)
• Document discrepancies in shared tracker

41. Functional QA

• Every form submits correctly (success, error, validation)
• All links work (internal, external, anchor)
• Search returns relevant results
• Authentication flows (login, logout, password reset, protected routes)
• E-commerce flow (cart, checkout, payment, confirmation, email)
• CMS preview mode works for editors

42. Performance Audit (Pre-Launch)

Run Lighthouse CI in pipeline. Targets:

• Performance: ≥90
• Accessibility: ≥95
• Best Practices: ≥90
• SEO: ≥90
• Core Web Vitals (field data via CrUX or RUM): LCP <2.5s, INP <200ms, CLS <0.1

43. Accessibility Audit (Pre-Launch)

• Automated: axe-core in CI (zero violations)
• Manual: Keyboard-only navigation of all flows
• Screen reader: NVDA (Windows) + VoiceOver (Mac/iOS)
• Color contrast: All text meets WCAG AA
• Zoom test: 200% zoom, no loss of content/function

44. Stakeholder UAT (User Acceptance Testing)

• Share staging environment with stakeholders
• Provide test scripts for critical paths
• Collect feedback in structured format (bug, improvement, question)
• Triage: Must-fix (launch blocker) vs. Follow-up (post-launch)

Phase 6: Launch Preparation (Steps 45–48)

45. Final Redirect Map Verification

• Crawl old site (Screaming Frog) → list all URLs
• Map every URL to new destination (1:1 or best match)
• Implement 301 redirects at hosting/CDN level (not plugin)
• Test 50+ random redirects manually

46. Pre-Launch Checklist

• [ ] SSL certificate valid and auto-renewing
• [ ] DNS TTL lowered 24h before launch (300s)
• [ ] Production environment variables set
• [ ] Analytics and tracking verified on staging
• [ ] Search Console property ready (new or existing)
• [ ] XML sitemap submitted
• [ ] robots.txt correct for production
• [ ] Error monitoring (Sentry, LogRocket) connected
• [ ] Uptime monitoring (Better Uptime, Pingdom) configured
• [ ] Backup strategy verified (database, assets, CMS content)

47. Launch Day Runbook

Document step-by-step:

• Who does what, in what order
• DNS switch procedure
• Smoke tests post-DNS (homepage, key pages, forms, checkout)
• Rollback plan (DNS revert, previous deploy)
• Communication plan (internal Slack, status page, client notification)
• Go/No-go criteria

48. Launch!

Execute runbook. Monitor:

• Real-user Core Web Vitals (Search Console, web-vitals library)
• Error rates (Sentry)
• Uptime (monitoring)
• Form submissions, transactions
• Search Console indexing (URL Inspection on key pages)

Phase 7: Post-Launch & Optimization (Steps 49–50)

49. 30-Day Hypercare Period

• Daily: Error monitoring, uptime, Core Web Vitals
• Weekly: Analytics review (traffic, conversions, behavior)
• Bi-weekly: Stakeholder check-in
• Fix: Critical bugs, performance regressions, content issues
• Document: Lessons learned, design system updates needed

50. Continuous Improvement Plan

• Quarterly: Full analytics + SEO + performance review
• Monthly: Content updates, blog posts, case studies
• Per sprint: Design system improvements, component refinements
• Annually: Strategic redesign assessment (is the site still serving business goals?)

Bonus: Redesign Risk Mitigation

| Risk | Mitigation | |------|------------| | SEO traffic drop | Comprehensive redirect map, preserve content URLs, monitor Search Console daily | | Launch delays | Fixed-scope phases, buffer in timeline, phased launch option | | Budget overrun | Fixed-price phases, change request process, monthly budget reviews | | Design-development mismatch | Design system, DevMode figma-to-production-handoff-guide-2026" class="internal-link">handoff, design QA in browser | | Content bottleneck | Content-first approach, professional copywriter, redesign-checklist-50-steps" class="internal-link">migration scripts | | Stakeholder scope creep | Signed-off sitemap, template list, revision limits in contract | | Performance regression | Performance budgets in CI, Lighthouse CI gate, RUM monitoring |

Download the Checklist

Get the printable PDF version with checkboxes and a Notion template you can duplicate: [ui-designer.in/redesign-checklist](https://ui-designer.in/redesign-checklist)

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