Written by 4SYSTEMPublished on Updated on
Practical guide · 5 min reading
To prepare for a website redesign, start with what your visitors need to achieve: find an offer, buy, reserve or request a quote. Only then choose the screens and tools. This guide is aimed at companies who want to organize a project without losing useful content, access or requests from their customers.
Start from an objective, not a model
“A more modern site” does not allow you to decide whether a redesign works. Instead, describe a task: a prospect must understand the service and send an actionable request; a buyer must find a product and know the delivery conditions. Then match each page to a step in this journey.
Do not confuse the expected commercial result and what can be verified upon delivery. A team can check that a quote is recorded and correctly transmitted. It cannot guarantee, based on the model alone, the number of contracts signed. Traffic and sales objectives require monitoring after going online, with context and a comparison period.
Take inventory before deleting
Prepare a table with one row per page: address, subject, proposed action, content owner and “keep, modify, merge or remove” decision. Add resources that don't look like pages: PDF documents, images, forms, confirmations, booking pages and links used in your campaigns.
Also locate the dependencies. Where do the messages arrive? Who has access to the hosting, domain, CMS and sending tool? Does a booking integration pass information to another service? A site may appear finished even though its connection to request processing has never been attempted.
A general page presents several services, but prospects always ask for the same precision: what is included in the support. The need is not necessarily a new animation. The brief may include a detail page, explained deliverables, the information expected in the request and a clear confirmation. This example describes a method, not a client result of 4SYSTEM.
Prepare the content and its manager
Each important page must answer a real question. Describe the offering, audience, limitations and next step. Gather the photos you have the right to use and the examples of work you can show. Don't fill a gap with made-up testimonials or figures without context.
Assign someone responsible for each piece of content. Specify who validates any prices, contact details, conditions and notices relating to the data. Late editorial validation may call into question the length of the blocks and therefore their presentation on mobile. Provide the real texts early enough to avoid testing the site on provisional content.
Preserve useful addresses and links
When addresses change, map each old page to its relevant destination. Google Search Central recommends a URL mapping table, updating internal links and redirects directly to the final destination. Returning all old pages to the home page is not a suitable response if their subjects are different.
Control links in ads, emails, social profiles and sales documents. Visitor bookmarks and external references may continue to use the old addresses. If the content no longer has a relevant equivalent, treat its removal as an explicit decision rather than creating a misleading redirect.
A migration can be accompanied by fluctuations in visibility. Correct redirection is not a guarantee of immediate stability. Plan to check important pages and track errors in the tools you have.
Prepare for tests on computer and mobile
Write checks before publishing. Test the menu, buttons, reading offers, forms and error messages. Use a narrow screen and computer; Also watch the loading, because a block can move when a font or image arrives.
On forms, each field must be identifiable and errors must explain what needs to be corrected. The W3C recommendations on labels remind that an indicative text in the field (placeholder) does not replace a label (label). Don't limit control to the color of a button or a screenshot of the first screen.
- Check starting pages and confirmation pages.
- Test links, keyboard access and error states.
- Authorize an identified test sending and separately control its reception.
- Keep a backup and rollback instructions.
- Redo the routes on the public site after going online.
Frequently asked questions before a redesign
Do I need to change all the pages?
No. Keep content that still meets a need and improve priority pathways. A redesign can focus on the structure, presentation or certain tools without rewriting the entire site. The decision must be based on inventory and uses, not on the apparent age of the pages.
Can we keep the same addresses?
Yes, if their organization remains coherent. This limits the changes to manage. When a change is necessary, document the destination of old URLs and test redirects. Keeping an address does not exempt you from checking that the final content still corresponds to the expected subject.
Which document to prepare first?
A short brief with the role of the site, the audiences, the expected actions, the pages to preserve and the necessary access. Add the test validation criteria and the decisions remaining to be made. This document is more useful than a list of graphic effects disconnected from the course.
Next step: frame a priority page
Choose a concrete route and write its checklist. You will thus have a basis for discussing the scope, content and tools. Our approach to creation and redesign of sites can help you structure this work; present your project to us with the resources to keep.
A FIRST EXCHANGE
A project to develop?
Tell us about your site, campaigns or emails. We will define with you the next actions to take.
