Website redesign checklist, and what a good proposal contains

A website redesign checklist has three stages. Before the build: record what the current site earns, list every URL, and agree the scope and price in writing. During the build: map every old URL to a new one, keep or improve the content that ranks, and test forms and speed on a phone. After launch: submit the new sitemap, watch Search Console and enquiries for at least a fortnight, and fix anything that breaks. A good redesign proposal covers all three, and it is worth knowing what one looks like before the first one arrives.

Before the build, start with a baseline. Export the last twelve months from Google Analytics and Search Console: which pages get visits, which search terms bring them, and which pages produce enquiries. Count the enquiries themselves, by phone and by form, for a typical month. Without these numbers nobody can tell you afterwards whether the redesign worked, and a redesign judged only on how it looks is judged on the wrong thing.

Then make a full list of the current URLs, from the sitemap or a crawl, and note who holds the domain, the hosting login and the DNS. A surprising number of redesigns stall for a week because the one person with the domain password left in 2021.

Finally, decide what the new site is for. More enquiries from a particular service, a site the team can actually edit, a shop, a faster site on phones. One or two clear goals make every later decision easier, and they are the measure the finished site should be held to.

During the build, the redirect map comes first, not last. Every URL that gets traffic or has links pointing at it needs a permanent redirect to its closest equivalent on the new site, one hop, no chains. Pages that earn traffic keep their substance: tidy them, improve them, but do not cut a ranking page to two sentences in the name of a cleaner design. Titles and headings are written for what customers actually search for rather than inherited by accident.

Test on a staging copy before anything goes live. Every form should send to a real inbox and be checked. Every redirect should be tested against the old URL list. Speed should be measured on a phone over a mobile connection, because that is how most local customers will see it.

After launch, submit the new XML sitemap in Search Console on the day, then check the coverage and not-found reports daily for the first week and weekly for the month after. Compare enquiries and traffic against the baseline. Some movement in rankings for a couple of weeks is normal while Google recrawls; a sharp, sustained fall usually points to missing redirects or stripped content, and both can be fixed quickly if they are caught early.

Now the proposal. People often search for a website redesign proposal example because they have received one and are not sure whether it is any good, or because they have received three that cannot be compared. A good proposal, whatever its layout, contains five things.

The first is a written scope: the pages, the features, the integrations, how many rounds of design changes, and whether copywriting, photography and training are included. If it is not listed, assume it is not included and ask.

The second is a redirect plan, or at least a commitment to one, naming who builds the map and when it is tested. A redesign proposal that never mentions redirects is the single clearest warning sign there is, because it means the most expensive risk in the project has not been thought about.

The third is a content plan: which existing pages are kept, which are rewritten, which are merged or dropped, and who writes the new material. Content is the usual cause of delay, so the proposal should say when it is needed and from whom.

The fourth is a timeline with the dependencies stated. Two to four weeks is realistic for a small business site once content and sign-off arrive promptly. A timeline that ignores your side of the work will slip, and it is better to see that on paper.

The fifth is a fixed price for the defined scope, with anything outside it quoted before it is done. As market guidance, UK small business websites commonly cost from a few hundred pounds for a simple site to several thousand for a larger or shop build, and a redesign costs about the same as a new build because it largely is one. Add hosting after any included period, and a care plan if you want one, to get a five-year figure you can compare across suppliers.

Our own redesigns follow this shape: an audit of what the current site earns, a written scope, a redirect map tested on staging, and two weeks of monitoring after launch, at the same fixed prices as a new build, from £249 for a five-page starter and £499 for a brand-led business site, with shops from £1,250 and the first year of hosting included. Whoever you choose, hold their proposal against the five points above before you sign it.

• Website Redesign, Replacing a tired site without throwing away the rankings and enquiries the old one was quietly earning.
• Pricing