Website Redesign SEO Checklist

Redesigning your website can breathe new life into your brand, improve user experience, and boost conversions. But if not handled carefully, it can also tank your search engine rankings overnight. That’s why SEO should never be an afterthought in a website redesign—it should be at the core of your planning process.

In this blog post, we’ll walk you through a comprehensive SEO checklist to follow before, during, and after your website redesign to ensure you maintain (or even improve) your organic search performance.

Why SEO Matters in a Website Redesign

Search engine optimization (SEO) ensures your site ranks well in search results, bringing in organic traffic and potential customers. During a redesign, many SEO-critical elements—like URL structures, content, and internal links—can change or be removed entirely. Without a solid plan, you risk losing years of hard-earned SEO equity.

Let’s break it down into three key phases: Pre-Redesign, During the Redesign, and Post-Launch.

Phase 1: Pre-Redesign SEO Checklist

Benchmark Current Performance

Start by understanding where you are. Use tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console to capture:

• Top-performing pages
• Keyword rankings
• Backlink profiles
• Traffic sources
• Bounce rates and user behavior

Crawl and Backup Your Current Site

Use a tool like Screaming Frog or Sitebulb to crawl your entire website. Export the crawl data and back it up. Make sure to save:

• All URLs
• Meta titles and descriptions
• Headers (H1, H2, etc.)
• Image alt texts
• Internal links

Identify Top-Performing Content

Which blog posts or landing pages drive the most traffic, backlinks, or conversions? Make a list. These pages should remain unchanged or be carefully optimized during the redesign.

Conduct a Content Audit

Now’s a great time to assess all your content. Group it into:

• Keep
• Improve/Update
• Merge
• Remove

Create a 301 Redirect Map

If any URLs are changing, set up a 301 redirect map. This tells search engines where your old pages have moved, preserving their link equity and avoiding “404 Not Found” errors.

Phase 2: During the Redesign

Maintain Your URL Structure (If Possible)

Changing URLs unnecessarily can hurt rankings. If you can maintain your existing URL structure, do it. If not, make sure you’ve created proper 301 redirects.

Optimize Page Speed

Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix to ensure your new site loads quickly. Prioritize:

• Image compression
• Browser caching
• Minified CSS, JavaScript, and HTML
• A fast hosting provider or CDN

Ensure Mobile Responsiveness

With mobile-first indexing, your mobile site is now the primary version Google evaluates. Test on multiple devices and screen sizes to ensure a seamless mobile experience.

Optimize On-Page Elements

As you migrate or redesign content, make sure every page has:

• A unique, keyword-targeted meta title
• A compelling meta description
• Header tags (H1 for the page title, H2/H3 for subheadings)
• Descriptive image alt text
• SEO-friendly URLs

Preserve Internal Linking Structure

Internal links distribute link equity and guide users. Make sure your internal linking structure remains strong and logical throughout the site.

Use a Staging Site

Never redesign your live site. Always build on a staging environment. Keep it noindexed (via robots.txt or meta tags) to prevent it from being crawled by search engines.

Phase 3: Post-Launch SEO Checklist

Test All Redirects

Once your new site is live, test every URL change. Use tools like Screaming Frog or HTTP Status Checker to ensure all redirects are in place and properly using 301 status codes.

Submit Updated Sitemap and Robots.txt

Update your XML sitemap to reflect the new structure and submit it via Google Search Console. Also, check your robots.txt file to ensure you’re not blocking important pages or resources.

Monitor Google Search Console and Analytics

Watch for:

• Crawl errors (404s, redirect loops)
• Drops in traffic or rankings
• Indexing issues
• Mobile usability problems

Perform a Full SEO Audit

After launch, conduct a full-site SEO audit. Check:

• Meta data consistency
• Duplicate content
• Schema markup
• Canonical tags
• Broken links

Ask Google to Reindex Key Pages

Use the URL Inspection Tool in Google Search Console to request reindexing for your most important pages—especially those that have changed significantly.

Rebuild Lost Backlinks (If Necessary)

Sometimes, backlinks point to old URLs that no longer exist. Check your backlink profile in Ahrefs or Moz, and reach out to webmasters to update their links to the new URLs—or ensure your redirects catch them.

Bonus Tips

• ☑️ Use Structured Data: Implement schema markup for your content (products, articles, reviews, etc.) to help search engines understand your pages and enhance your SERP presence.
• ☑️ Don’t Rush the Redesign: Set aside time for SEO QA testing, user testing, and cross-browser/device testing. Rushing can lead to oversights that negatively impact rankings.
• ☑️ Keep Communicating: Involve your SEO specialist from the very beginning—not just at the end. SEO isn’t a layer you add after design; it’s foundational to your site’s performance.

Final Thoughts

A website redesign is an exciting opportunity to improve both form and function—but it’s also one of the riskiest things you can do to your search visibility. By following this SEO checklist, you can protect your rankings, maintain your traffic, and come out on the other side stronger than ever.

Take your time, plan carefully, and always keep SEO in the conversation from day one.

Want a downloadable version of this checklist? Let me know and I’ll create a shareable PDF version for your team.