A website redesign involves many people, many decisions and plenty of chances for things to slip. A clear project plan keeps everyone moving in the same direction. It does not need to be complicated. It needs to show the main stages, who is involved and what must be agreed before moving on.
Stage one: discovery
Start by understanding what the current site does well and where it falls short. Review your analytics, talk to customers and gather input from sales and support teams. Agree on clear goals for the new site and how you will measure success.
Stage two: structure and content
Plan the sitemap and key user journeys before any visual design begins. Audit existing content to decide what to keep, rewrite or remove. Content often takes longer than expected, so start early and assign clear owners.
Stage three: design and build
Create wireframes to agree on layout, then move to visual design. Review designs on mobile as well as desktop. Once designs are approved, development can begin. Regular check-ins help catch problems while they are still easy to fix.
Stage four: testing and launch
- Test forms, links and key journeys on different devices and browsers.
- Check page speed and basic accessibility.
- Set up redirects from old URLs to new ones.
- Confirm that analytics and tracking work correctly.
- Prepare a launch checklist and a plan for rolling back if needed.
- Choose a quiet time to launch, with people ready to fix issues.
Keep decisions moving
Most redesigns are delayed by slow feedback and changing opinions, not by technical problems. Agree at the start who makes final decisions at each stage. Set review deadlines and stick to them. Record key decisions, so they are not reopened later without good reason.
A good plan will not remove every surprise, but it makes surprises much easier to handle. If you are planning a redesign and would like a partner for the journey, the Northpeak team would be glad to hear about it.
