A useful website redesign starts with a record of what your existing website does for your business.
Before choosing colours or layouts, collect the pages people find, the enquiries you receive and the information customers use to choose you.
That gives your Adelaide website redesign a clear brief and makes the finished result easier to assess.
You can use the checklist below yourself, or start with my project planner to work out which parts of the rebuild deserve attention first.
Set the job your new website needs to do
Choose 1 main customer action for each service page.
For a local service business, that might be requesting a quote, asking about availability or sending a project description.
For an appointment business, it might be completing a booking through an existing booking system.
Write the action in ordinary language, then describe what a customer needs to know before taking it.
A visitor considering a bathroom renovation might need to understand project scope, service area, the quotation process and examples of relevant work.
A professional services client might need qualifications, the kinds of clients you work with and what the first engagement includes.
Your redesign brief should make these decisions explicit.
| Decision | Record before design begins |
|---|---|
| Primary audience | The customer and service you most want to attract |
| Service area | The Adelaide areas your business actually serves |
| Main action | The next step a visitor can complete online |
| Useful information | The questions customers ask before enquiring |
| Business priority | The service or project type that deserves prominence |
| Success measure | The accepted enquiry or booking you can verify |
Make a page inventory
List every existing page address, its purpose and the decision about its future.
Include blog articles, old service pages, downloadable resources and pages that sit outside the main menu.
Your sitemap is a useful starting point, while Search Console and analytics can help identify pages people already use.
Add a column for incoming links where you have that information.
The resulting list lets you distinguish a design change from a change to a page's address or purpose.
| Current page | Customer purpose | Proposed treatment |
|---|---|---|
| Main service page | Explain and enquire about a service | Keep the address and improve the content |
| Earlier version of that service | Answer the same customer need | Map to the current equivalent |
| Useful advice article | Answer a specific research question | Retain and update the information |
| Retired offer | Explain a service that's ended | Review its history and decide explicitly |
Google's site move guidance recommends preparing a URL mapping and monitoring traffic through a move.
It also explains that rankings can fluctuate while changed pages are processed.
Preserving a useful address is often the simplest choice when the page still serves the same purpose.
Fill in a URL mapping worksheet
Download the website redesign URL map (CSV) to record the old and new addresses, responses, ownership and verification date.
Copy the following columns into a spreadsheet and give every existing address its own row.
Record the full address, including any meaningful query string, rather than just the page title.
| Worksheet column | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Old URL | The exact published address people or search engines can reach |
| Page purpose | The service, question or action that page serves |
| Retained value | Relevant content, recorded enquiries, search clicks or known referring links |
| Decision | Keep, update, combine with a relevant equivalent, or retire |
| New URL | The destination that best continues that page's purpose |
| Expected response | 200 for a retained page; 301 or 308 for a permanent move; an agreed 404 or 410 for a retired page with no equivalent |
| Verification | Observed response, final address, content match and reviewer/date |
For example, a retained service page can stay at the same address while its design changes.
An earlier service page that's being combined with a current equivalent should point directly to that equivalent.
Use the destination's actual final address so each move has a clear single-step route.
For a retired offer, first check whether any current page genuinely answers the same customer need.
The homepage is an appropriate destination only where it fulfils that purpose.
Keep useful original content on the replacement page and update its internal links to use the new address directly.
Include downloadable files and important old campaign addresses in the worksheet when they're part of the existing customer journey.
Check the mapping before and after launch
Give the person building the website the full worksheet and agree which rows they'll verify before release.
Use this procedure for each changed address, then repeat it on the public domain after launch.
- Open the old address and record the response status with a browser's Network panel or a URL-checking tool.
- Confirm the final address matches the worksheet and contains the relevant service or information.
- Check that the final page loads successfully and that any permanent move uses the agreed 301 or 308 response.
- Inspect links from the menu and related pages so they lead directly to the final address.
- Confirm the final page's canonical URL identifies the intended public address.
- Check that current indexable destinations appear in the sitemap and that preview copies stay excluded from search.
- Record the outcome, date and person responsible for any remaining correction.
For a retained address, verify its 200 response and content in the same way.
For a retired address with no equivalent, check the agreed 404 or 410 response and give visitors a useful route to current services on its error page.
Google's redirect guidance explains how permanent redirects signal the intended destination to search engines.
After release, use Search Console to review important new URLs, sitemap processing and Google's chosen canonical as crawl records become available.
Record the inspection date and last crawl date so your review distinguishes the earlier website from the new release.
Collect the content and assets you own
Put your current logo files, brand colours, approved photographs and service information in a shared project folder.
For each photograph, record who supplied it and whether your business has permission to publish it.
Choose images that help someone understand the service, such as the finished work, a relevant location or the person they'll deal with.
Write down which testimonials and project examples are approved for the new website.
Keep the customer's wording and attribution attached to any approved testimonial so it's carried across accurately.
Review contact details, opening hours, qualifications, team information and old offers individually.
An existing page can be useful evidence of what was published, while the new page should describe the business as it operates now.
My website brief checklist gives you a practical structure for collecting these details.
Agree how enquiries will work
Trace the complete journey from a visitor choosing a service to someone in your business receiving their enquiry.
That includes the form, confirmation message, delivery destination and responsibility for replying.
Keep the initial form focused on information you need to take the next step.
Additional project details can be optional, especially when a visitor is using a phone.
If you're planning Google Ads in Adelaide, include the relevant campaign destinations and measurement requirements in the rebuild scope.
A dedicated landing page can have a different emphasis from your main service page while keeping the same factual offer.
Document which actions represent a submitted enquiry and which represent interest, such as pressing a phone link.
Those actions tell you different things about the customer journey.
The historical Precision HR website project is a useful example of connecting a migration and rebrand with a third-party calendar booking step.
Urszula Richards documented that Web Team Adelaide work in 2021, before I acquired the business on 1 July 2024.
Use the documented features to decide which existing booking connection belongs in your own migration brief.
The project planner can help you put website and advertising requirements into the same brief.
Review the preview as a customer
Work through the new website on a phone and a laptop using tasks a real visitor would attempt.
Start on a service page, find the information needed to choose you, and complete the intended next step.
Then repeat the journey using a keyboard to check navigation, buttons and form fields.
The W3C's forms guidance explains the importance of labels, instructions and feedback that help people complete a form.
Use those principles when reviewing the experience, especially where information is required or a field needs correcting.
- Confirm every menu item reaches the expected page.
- Check phone links use the current business number.
- Review image cropping on narrow screens.
- Read service content at a comfortable text size.
- Confirm form labels remain visible while typing.
- Check that a successful submission produces a clear confirmation.
- Verify the agreed enquiry destination through a controlled test.
- Check that each moved address reaches its intended replacement.
Record findings in a shared list with the affected page and the expected behaviour.
Specific observations make it easier to approve the finished work.
Assign the launch and follow-up tasks
Your launch plan should name who controls the domain, hosting, enquiry delivery and analytics accounts.
Record the planned launch date, the person making the change and the checks they'll complete afterwards.
Keep a copy of the existing website and its page inventory so the earlier state remains available for reference.
Check that the public website can be indexed once it's approved, and that preview copies remain excluded from search.
After launch, review important service pages, old addresses, enquiry delivery and the data appearing in your reporting tools.
Continue comparing the new website against your original business objective as enough real visitor activity becomes available.
If you'd like help organising those decisions, use the project planner and include your existing website address.