The redesign checklist
nobody hands you.

• Write down who registered your domain, and make sure you can log in.
• Find out who handles your business email — it may be a different provider entirely.
• Save a copy of every page's text, even the pages you think you'll drop.
• Collect original logo files, photos, and any brand colours or fonts you already use.
• List the pages that currently bring you enquiries; those URLs matter most.
• Note anything embedded in the old site: booking tools, maps, reviews, payment buttons.
• Take screenshots of the old site. Memory is unreliable once the new one is live.

• Pick one main action per page — call, book, request a quote, or visit.
• Decide the page list before design starts; scope creep is what delays redesigns.
• Write your opening hours, service area, and contact details once, correctly.
• Gather three or four sites you like, and note why — layout, tone, or colour.
• Check every claim you plan to make about your business is accurate and provable.

If you sell or advertise anything regulated — health, finance, legal, trades requiring a licence — confirm your wording matches your actual credentials before it's published.

• Keep the URLs of pages that already get traffic, or redirect them one-to-one.
• Leave your email DNS records untouched; only the records pointing at the website change.
• Keep your existing analytics property so historical data isn't orphaned.
• Preserve your Google Business Profile link and make sure it points to a live page.
• Carry over reviews, licence numbers and certifications that live on the old site.
• Confirm the new site is on HTTPS with a valid, auto-renewing certificate.

• Switch over at a quiet hour, not on your busiest morning.
• Test every form and confirm the message actually arrives in your inbox.
• Click every phone number and email link on a real phone.
• Check the site on a small phone screen, not just a laptop.

One practical note: if you keep your domain in your own registrar account, the person publishing the site needs temporary access to it to point the domain at the new site. There is no way around that step. It covers DNS settings only, never ownership, it is done together on a short scheduled call so you see every change, and the access should be removed the moment the switch is done.

• Submit the new sitemap in Search Console and check for crawl errors.
• Re-read every page slowly for typos; fresh eyes catch what the build missed.
• Update the website link on your social profiles, directories and invoices.
• Ask two customers to find something specific on the site and watch where they hesitate.
• Agree how future edits are handled and what each one costs, in writing.