How to Plan and Execute a Website Relaunch: Step-by-Step Guide

A website relaunch involves a comprehensive overhaul of an existing website to improve its design, functionality, and performance. This process may include updating the site's layout, enhancing user experience, ensuring mobile responsiveness, integrating new technologies, and optimizing for search engines (SEO). The goal is to create a more effective and engaging online presence.

Redesign can be one of the main reasons for relaunching a website. Redesign involves updating a website's appearance, enhancing the user interface, and improving overall functionality. This includes changes to the structure, better navigation, content updates, and integration of new technologies. The goal of a redesign is to make the site more modern, user-friendly, and visually appealing.

Relaunch of a website is a more comprehensive update that can include not only redesign but also significant changes to the site’s architecture, platform, and content. A relaunch is often undertaken to address performance issues, improve SEO, adapt to new business goals, or rebrand.

Explore our article to gain detailed insights into website redesign and understand when and how it should be carried out to achieve the best results.

Launching a new website can be a challenging, costly, and time-intensive endeavor. It's not a decision that businesses make lightly; typically, there is a significant motivation behind undertaking such a major overhaul.

A website relaunch is necessary under several circumstances, such as:

• Outdated Design

If your website looks dated compared to competitors, it can negatively impact user perception and engagement. A modern, visually appealing design can make your site more attractive and trustworthy to users.

• Poor Performance

Slow load times, frequent downtime, or technical issues can frustrate and drive users away. Optimizing your site's performance ensures a smoother, faster user experience, which can improve retention and satisfaction.

• SEO Decline

If your site’s search engine rankings and traffic have dropped despite ongoing SEO efforts, a relaunch can help address structural and content issues. Updating your site’s architecture and content strategy can improve its visibility and effectiveness in search results.

• Brand Evolution

When your brand’s identity, messaging, target audience, or overall branding strategy changes, including rebranding efforts, your website should reflect these updates. A relaunch can align your site with your brand's new direction, ensuring consistency across all marketing channels.

• Enhanced Functionality

A website relaunch may be necessary to integrate new features or technologies that enhance user experience or operational efficiency. Adding functionalities such as e-commerce capabilities, interactive elements, or advanced analytics can significantly improve the value of your site.

• Poor User Experience (UX)

A website with a confusing layout, difficult navigation, or insufficient interactivity can lead to a poor user experience. A relaunch can improve the UX by streamlining navigation, enhancing the design, and making the site more intuitive and enjoyable.

• Non-Responsive Design

In the current mobile-first era, a non-responsive design can alienate many of your audience. If your website does not perform well on various devices, a relaunch can ensure that it is fully responsive and offers a seamless experience across desktops, tablets, and smartphones.

• Underperforming Metrics

If your website is not meeting key performance indicators (KPIs) such as conversion rates, bounce rates, or user engagement, it may be time for a relaunch. Analyzing and addressing these metrics can help identify areas for improvement, leading to better performance and achieving business objectives.

Maintaining or improving SEO during a website relaunch is crucial to avoid losing search engine rankings and traffic. Here are some key considerations:

• Conduct an SEO Audit: Before relaunching, perform a thorough SEO audit to understand the current performance and identify areas for improvement.
• Preserve URL Structures: Keep the existing URL structures to maintain SEO value whenever possible. If changes are necessary, implement 301 redirects to guide search engines and users from old URLs to new ones.
• Update Sitemaps: Submit updated XML sitemaps to search engines to help them understand your site's new structure.
• Optimize Content: Ensure all content is optimized for relevant keywords, has appropriate meta tags, and is formatted for readability and engagement.
• Monitor Performance: After relaunching, closely monitor your site’s performance using analytics tools to promptly identify and resolve any issues.

Proper planning is essential for a successful website relaunch. Here are some steps to consider:

1.    Set Clear Goals

Define what you aim to achieve with the relaunch. Setting specific, measurable goals provides direction and benchmarks for success. Goals could include:

• Improved User Engagement: Enhance the user experience to increase visitors' time on your site and their interaction with your content.
• Increased Conversions: Optimize the site’s design and functionality to boost conversion rates, whether for sales, sign-ups, or other key actions.
• Better SEO Performance: Aim to improve your search engine rankings by addressing SEO issues and optimizing new content.

2.    Analyze Current Site

Assess the strengths and weaknesses of your existing site through various methods:

• User Feedback: Collect insights from your audience about their experience with your site. This can be done through surveys, feedback forms, or user testing sessions.
• Analytics: Use tools like Google Analytics to understand user behavior, identify high-performing pages, and spot areas that need improvement.
• SEO Audits: Conduct an SEO audit to identify technical issues, keyword performance, and backlink quality. This will help you understand how well your site is optimized for search engines.

3.    Create a Timeline

Develop a detailed timeline outlining each phase of the relaunch process. This helps manage the project efficiently and ensures all tasks are completed on time. Consider the following phases:

• Planning Phase: Set goals, conduct analyses, and create strategies.
• Design and Development Phase: Develop the new design, implement technical changes and test functionalities.
• Content Creation and Migration Phase: Update existing content, create new content, and ensure all content is correctly migrated to the new site.
• Testing Phase: Perform thorough testing to identify and fix any issues.
• Launch Phase: Deploy the new site and monitor its performance.
• Post-Launch Monitoring Phase: Continuously monitor the site, gather user feedback, and make necessary adjustments.

4.    Allocate Budget

Determine the budget required for various aspects of the relaunch. A well-planned budget ensures that all necessary resources are available without overspending. Key areas to consider include:

• Design and Development Costs: Expenses related to hiring designers, developers, and purchasing any necessary software or tools.
• Content Creation: Costs for updating existing content and creating new content, including potential expenses for hiring writers or multimedia creators.
• Marketing Efforts: Budget for marketing activities, such as social media campaigns, email marketing, and PPC advertising, to promote the new site.
• Testing and QA: Funds for comprehensive testing to ensure the site functions correctly and provides a good user experience.
• Post-Launch Support: Allocate budget for ongoing maintenance and any unexpected issues arising after the launch.

By meticulously planning each of these steps, you can ensure a smooth and successful website relaunch that meets your goals and provides a better experience for your users.

The first task is to ensure that all high-ranking pages on the current site are properly migrated to the new site and that search engines can locate them.

Pages to Prioritize:

• Pages Linked from Other Websites: These pages provide authority benefits and help improve the ranking of every URL on your website. Excluding them will lower your website's Domain Authority, even if redirects are in place.
• Pages Receiving Organic Search Traffic: These pages are relevant and attract clicks. Omitting them from the redesign will result in a traffic drop equivalent to the number of visits they previously garnered.

Step 1: Count Pages with Google

To quickly see which of your pages are indexed by Google, perform a search using the "site:" operator followed by your domain, such as “site: website.com.” This provides an at-a-glance view of your site's presence in search engines, showing the number of indexed pages and giving you a general idea of your site's size.

For a more precise count, use the Google Index > Index Status report in Google Search Console, found in the "Pages" report. This gives a detailed view of the number of indexed pages.

With this information, you can make informed decisions about what and how much content to migrate to the new site:

• For sites with dozens or hundreds of pages: It usually makes sense to move all the pages, especially if the new site uses the same CMS as the old one. The migration process may be straightforward.

• For sites with thousands of pages or if manual migration is required: Prioritize which pages to move to avoid unnecessary work. Follow the subsequent steps to protect your SEO during the website relaunch.

Step 2: Perform a Website Crawl

You can use several methods to generate a comprehensive list of all the URLs on your website, enabling you to evaluate each page's SEO rank and traffic.

Various tools are available to crawl websites and compile a list of pages that should potentially be included in the new site. Some of these tools, like Xenu Link Sleuth, are free, while others are paid, like Screaming Frog. These crawlers can also identify "orphan pages" that aren't listed in the sitemap but still have links, rankings, and traffic.

However, these tools can sometimes produce false positives, showing URLs that aren't actual pages. For example, if you encounter a "page" like www.website.com/blog-tag, consider whether it is a genuine content page or just an extraneous URL generated by your CMS. Use your judgment to disregard URLs that are not true content pages.

Alternatively, you can go straight to Google Analytics. The pages identified here are typically the most important, as they rank and attract search traffic.

Here’s how to export pages that have received search traffic from GA4:

   Navigate to the Engagement > Landing Pages report (select a substantial date range).
   Click the ‘Add filter +’ button.
   Set the filter to “Session medium… exactly matches… organic” as shown in the screenshot below.
   Click the share button, select download, and choose a CSV or XLS file format.

Here’s how to export pages that have received search traffic from GA4:

According to GA4, you now have a list of every page that received one or more visits from search. This inventory may be more valuable than a basic crawl because it includes only the URLs that were actually visited. Start a spreadsheet, adding these URLs to be migrated in the redesign, and record the monthly search traffic levels for the top URLs.

However, this list won’t include pages that haven’t been visited, which might still rank or have incoming links.

Step 3: Identify All Ranking Pages

To locate all your ranking pages, you can use two primary sources.

Free SEO Tool: Google Search Console (GSC)

Google Search Console (GSC) is complementary to GA4. While GA4 displays website activity (traffic), GSC provides insights into search performance within Google, offering pre-click data compared to GA4's post-click data.

There’s no need for filters or sorting. Simply navigate to the Search results report and click the EXPORT button in the top right corner.

This action will generate a ZIP file containing seven CSVs. The Pages.csv file lists your top 1000 URLs along with their search performance metrics: impressions, clicks, average click-through rate (CTR), and average position. You’ll notice that some pages have impressions but no clicks. Not all ranking pages will be captured in GA4.

The pages with the highest traffic should be prioritized for migration. Add these URLs to your migration spreadsheet and record the top keywords each URL ranks for.

Paid SEO Tools: Semrush and Ahrefs

Paid SEO tools like Semrush and Ahrefs offer more features but access less data. These tools gather search performance data by daily querying millions of keywords through Google's API and reporting which URLs rank for specific phrases.

These tools are excellent for competitive analysis (understanding what your competitors rank for), but here, we’re focusing on our own site inventory.

In Semrush, enter your domain in the search box, click “Organic Research” to view search performance, and then click “Export.”

In Ahrefs, input your domain in the search box, select “Top pages,” and then click “Export.”

With these tools, you now have multiple lists of URLs along with data on their search performance, including impressions, clicks, and overall traffic.

Step 4: Find the pages that have been linked to from other websites

Some pages are linked to from other sites, making your site more likely to rank in search engines in general. Even if these pages aren’t ranking themselves, they have value.

So finding and preserving (or redirecting) the URLs that have been linked to from other websites is important. It’s good for SEO. It’s also good for referral traffic since you don’t want your website’s relaunch to break links around the internet.

You can easily do it with Google Search Console.
Go to the Links report in GSC. It lists all the pages on your site that have been linked to from other websites. If you change any URL on this website without a redirect, you just break links on other people’s websites. And you hurt your website’s Domain Authority.

Unlike some paid SEO tools, it only shows the quantity, not the quality, of links to your pages. But it’s still important. Export this data and merge it with your list.

Step 5: Determine: Update or Migrate, Preserve or Redirect

As you analyze the data, you'll see that each URL holds varying levels of value, presenting different risks and opportunities. Some pages rank well but receive no traffic, others attract search traffic but fail to convert, some have valuable backlinks but no rankings, while others have no value or are extremely valuable.

Your decision process will lead to four potential actions for each URL:

• If the page is irrelevant, it doesn’t matter what you do with it; you can remove it. This won’t impact your overall strategy.

• If the page supports your brand message or sales but isn't relevant for SEO, it can migrate to the new site. Ensure it's accessible via navigation or internal links, but don't worry about preserving its URL for SEO purposes.

• If possible, preserve the same URL after the website launches. This may require close collaboration with developers who might not be familiar with SEO. Explain that their actions will either preserve or destroy SEO value. The goal is a seamless redesign without losing SEO benefits. If maintaining URLs is not feasible, such as during a domain change or CMS switch, use 301 redirects to retain some SEO value. Start by migrating the content unchanged. If changes are necessary, avoid reducing keyword relevance or removing critical details. Check for hidden SEO elements in the code, like schema and meta tags, as they contribute to rankings.

• Take this opportunity to optimize pages where keeping the URL is crucial. Many pages might be rewritten during the relaunch, so use semantic SEO techniques to enhance them.

If two pages cover similar topics and one has more SEO value, consider merging them into a single page using the higher-performing URL. This often results in increased traffic and engagement.

If you're already busy meeting the essential requirements for the website redesign, you can postpone updating the content. If the process isn't too labor-intensive, you can migrate everything as is, keeping the URL structure intact where feasible. After launching the new website, you can decide on content updates.

By carefully evaluating each URL and choosing the appropriate action, you can maximize the effectiveness of your website relaunch while maintaining or improving SEO performance.

Step 6: Set up 301 redirects

Setting up 301 redirects is crucial when relaunching a website. A 301 redirect permanently moves a page from one URL to another, ensuring that users and search engines are seamlessly directed to the new location.

Without proper redirects, visitors to your old URLs will encounter broken links or 404 errors, leading to a poor user experience and potential traffic loss. Additionally, search engines may drop your rankings if they can't find your content, as the SEO value of the old pages won’t transfer to the new URLs.

To maintain your site’s SEO integrity and user satisfaction, carefully plan and implement 301 redirects for all important pages. This will preserve your search engine rankings and ensure a smooth transition for your audience.

Step 7: Enhance Optimization by Contacting Website Editors Directly

Links from other websites transfer authority and ranking potential to your site, but a 301 redirect can lessen some of this value. It’s preferable to have external sites link directly to the new page on your site rather than an old URL that redirects.
Whenever possible, seek opportunities to have those external links updated.

This often involves contacting the editors of the linking websites. Send a polite request asking them to update the link to the new URL on your redesigned site. This approach eliminates the need for redirects and retains more of your site’s authority. It’s a highly effective yet often overlooked SEO strategy.

Step 8: Verify the robots.txt file

Every website should include a small file called robots.txt that instructs search engines on how to interact with the site. This file is located in the site's root directory and can be viewed by entering www.website.com/robots.txt into your browser’s address bar.

This file is public so that you can examine the robots.txt file of any website.

Important Note: During the development phase, if you used a NOINDEX directive in your robots.txt file to prevent search engines from indexing your site while it was under construction, make sure to remove this tag before going live. Failing to do so will result in your site not appearing in search engine rankings, effectively blacklisting your site.

Step 9: Inspect the sitemap.xml file

The sitemap.xml file is different from the HTML sitemap visible to visitors. This special file guides search engines to all the pages on your site. Like the robots.txt file, it’s located in the root directory and can be accessed at www.website.com/sitemap.xml.

For most websites, this file is automatically generated by the content management system (CMS). Review your sitemap.xml to ensure that all important URLs from your spreadsheet are included. After launch, you can verify this using Google Search Console.

Step 10: Create an Effective 404 Page

If a user lands on a non-existent page due to a missed redirect, they will encounter a "page not found" or 404 page. Ensure your 404 page is not just a dead end. Enhance it by adding links to your most popular articles or important pages to keep visitors engaged and guide them to relevant content.
You can learn how to properly design a 404 page and explore best practices and examples in our article.

Follow these steps to ensure a smooth and effective website relaunch:

1. Develop a Strategy

Create a comprehensive strategy based on your goals, including design, content, and technical requirements. This strategy should:

• Define the objectives of the relaunch, such as improved user engagement, higher conversion rates, or enhanced SEO performance.
• Identify the target audience and their needs.
• Establish key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the success of the relaunch.

2. Plan the User Experience (UX) and User Interface (UI)

Focus on enhancing the overall user experience and interface design to make the website intuitive and engaging.

• Plan the Website’s Structure: Develop a clear and logical sitemap and information architecture that ensures easy navigation and accessibility for users.
• Develop Your Website Redesign Strategy: Outline the key design elements, branding guidelines, and visual aesthetics that will be incorporated into the new site. This includes choosing color schemes, typography, and imagery that align with your brand identity.

3. Measure Your Current Website Metrics

Analyze your website's current performance to identify improvement areas and set benchmarks for the new site.

• Gather data on traffic, bounce rates, conversion rates, and user behavior using tools like Google Analytics.
• Compare your metrics against industry standards to identify performance gaps.

4. A/B Testing

Conduct A/B testing on various elements such as layouts, CTAs, and headlines to determine the most effective design and content variations.

• Create different versions of a webpage or element and test them with different audience segments.
• Analyze the results to identify which version performs better and implement the winning variant.

5. Tracking User Behavior

Utilize analytics tools to track and understand user behavior, preferences, and pain points.

• Set up heatmaps and session recordings to see how users interact with your site.
• Use this data to make informed decisions about design and content improvements.

6. Design and Develop the New Website

Collaborate with designers and developers to create a new layout, integrate necessary features, and ensure mobile responsiveness.

• Design: Create wireframes and mockups to visualize the new design. Ensure that the design is visually appealing and aligns with your brand identity.
• Development: Build the website using the latest technologies and best practices. Ensure the site is responsive and works seamlessly across different devices and browsers.

7. Content Creation

Update existing content and create new content that aligns with your brand and user needs.

• Review and Revise Existing Content: Ensure current content is up-to-date, relevant, and optimized for SEO.
• Create New Content: Develop high-quality content that addresses your audience's needs and interests. This includes blog posts, product descriptions, and multimedia content.

8. SEO Optimization

Implement SEO best practices throughout the design and content development stages.

• On-Page SEO: Optimize titles, meta descriptions, headers, and content with relevant keywords.
• Technical SEO: Improve site speed and mobile-friendliness and ensure proper indexing by search engines.
• Link Building: Develop a strategy to acquire high-quality backlinks to boost your site's authority.

9. Testing

Conduct thorough testing to identify and fix any functionality, usability, and performance issues.

• Functional Testing: Ensure that all features and links work as intended.
• Usability Testing: Evaluate the user experience to identify and address any navigation or interface issues.
• Performance Testing: Test site speed, load times, and responsiveness.

10. Announce Your Website Relaunch

Effectively announcing your website relaunch can maximize its impact. Here are some ideas:

• Teaser Campaigns: Use teasers on social media and email newsletters to build anticipation before the launch.
• Press Releases: Issue press releases to inform industry media and influencers about the relaunch.
• User Guides: Provide guides or tutorials to help users navigate the new site and take advantage of new features.
• Feedback Channels: Encourage users to provide feedback on the new site to identify any issues and areas for further improvement.

11. Launch

Deploy the new site, ensuring all redirects, sitemaps, and SEO settings are correctly implemented.

• Ensure that 301 redirects are set up to preserve SEO value from old URLs.
• Submit the new sitemap to search engines.
• Double-check that all SEO settings are correctly configured.

12. Post-Launch Monitoring

Use analytics tools to monitor the site’s performance and make necessary adjustments.

• Track key metrics such as traffic, bounce rates, and conversion rates.
• Gather user feedback to identify any issues or areas for improvement.
• Continuously update and optimize content to maintain relevance and SEO performance.

1. Maintain a Well-Organized Website
Organize your website’s content and structure to facilitate easy navigation and improve user satisfaction. A tidy site enhances loading speeds and provides a seamless user experience.

2. Prepare Redirects in Advance
Set up 301 redirects for URL changes to ensure visitors and search engines are seamlessly directed to the new pages. This helps maintain your SEO rankings and avoids 404 errors.

3. Implement a Gradual Rollout Strategy and Keep the Sitemap Updated
Roll out changes in phases to monitor performance and address issues as they arise. Regularly update your sitemap to help search engines accurately index your content.

4. Ensure Your Site is Responsive and User-Friendly
Design your website to be fully responsive, ensuring it adapts well to various devices and screen sizes. Prioritize user-friendliness by making navigation intuitive and content easily accessible.

5. Strive for a Quick-Loading Website and Include Calls to Action
Optimize your site for fast loading times to enhance user experience and reduce bounce rates. Incorporate clear calls to action to guide users towards desired actions and improve conversions.

6. Conduct a Website Audit Before Relaunch
Perform a comprehensive audit to identify and fix errors, update noindex tags, and repair broken links. This ensures your site is in optimal condition for the relaunch.

7. Improve Your Website for Fast Loading, Mobile Responsiveness, and Easy Navigation
Enhance your site’s performance by focusing on speed, ensuring it is mobile-friendly, and making navigation straightforward. These improvements contribute to a better overall user experience and higher engagement.

8. Involve Stakeholders
Engage key stakeholders throughout the process to ensure the relaunch aligns with business objectives.

9. Communicate Changes
To generate excitement and awareness, announce the relaunch to your audience through email newsletters, social media, and press releases.

10. Backup Data
Always backup your current site and data before starting the relaunch process to prevent data loss.

11. Training and Support
Provide training and support to your team to help them navigate and manage the new site effectively.

After the relaunch, ensuring everything runs smoothly and optimizing the site further is essential. Key post-launch activities include:

• Monitoring Performance: Use tools like Google Analytics to track key performance indicators such as traffic, bounce rate, and conversions. Identify any sudden changes or issues that need addressing.
• Checking for Issues: Conduct a thorough check for broken links, missing images, and other errors that might have occurred during the transition. Tools like Atomseo Broken Links Checker can help identify and fix broken links.
• Gathering User Feedback: Collect feedback from users to understand their experience with the new site. This can provide valuable insights for further improvements.
• SEO Monitoring: Continuously monitor SEO performance to ensure the new site maintains or improves its search engine rankings. Adjust SEO strategies based on performance data.
• Updating Content: Regularly update and optimize content to keep it relevant and engaging. Ensure that new content adheres to SEO best practices.
• Security Checks: Regularly perform security audits to protect against vulnerabilities and ensure the site remains secure.
• Team Training: Ensure your team is fully trained on the new site's features and functionalities to manage and update it effectively.

A website relaunch is a significant step towards enhancing your online presence, improving user experience, and aligning with current business goals. To ensure a successful relaunch, follow a comprehensive strategy that includes planning, designing, developing, and optimizing your site.

However, it's crucial to thoroughly check your website for errors and broken links before and after the relaunch. Timely identifying and resolving these issues are vital to maintaining a seamless user experience and preserving your SEO rankings. For this purpose, the Atomseo Broken Links Checker is an excellent tool. It allows you to check up to 1500 daily links for free, ensuring your site remains in top condition.