Agree what needs to change.
“The website feels old” can be a useful prompt, but it is a difficult brief. Identify what the current site makes harder. Customers may misunderstand your offer, struggle on mobile or send enquiries without the details you need. Your team may avoid updating pages because the editing tools are awkward.
Choose a small set of outcomes that you can assess. That could mean clearer service enquiries, an easier route to booking or the ability to publish case studies yourselves. Keep those priorities visible when reviewing designs and deciding what belongs in the first release.
Find out what already earns its place.
Make a list of existing pages and their URLs. Review available analytics, search queries and the questions your customers ask. A page with an unfashionable layout might still explain a service well or attract relevant visitors. Preserve that useful work while improving how it is presented.
Talk to the people who answer the phone and reply to enquiries. They often know which information is missing. For a business serving Market Harborough and nearby towns, recurring questions about coverage, travel or how a project starts can inform both the navigation and the content.
Give every important page a clear job.
Build the sitemap around the decisions visitors need to make. A service page should explain who the service helps, what is involved and how to take the next step. A project page should show the work and describe your actual contribution. An about page should help someone understand who they will be working with.
Then assign content responsibilities. Decide who writes, who checks and who approves. Collect real photography, project permissions, team details and useful customer questions early. Design is much more precise when it works with the material that will actually appear on the site.
Plan the move, including the unglamorous parts.
A redesign can change the structure of a site. Map old URLs to appropriate new pages and prepare permanent redirects where needed. Keep an eye on important content, page titles, internal links and downloadable files. Sending every old URL to the homepage usually gives visitors an unhelpful destination.
Document connected systems too: forms, email delivery, payment providers, booking tools and analytics. Confirm access to the domain, hosting and any services the new site depends on. These details affect the launch plan, so give someone clear ownership of each one.
Separate launch essentials from later ideas.
A shared priority list keeps the project moving. Agree what must work on day one, what would be useful and what needs further evidence. It is easier to make that distinction before everyone becomes attached to a particular feature.
- Name the pages and customer journeys required for launch.
- Identify integrations, content and approvals that could hold up the build.
- Agree how you will review responsive layouts, accessibility and performance.
- Choose who can make final decisions when feedback conflicts.
- Write down what ongoing support and content updates will involve.
Make launch the start of a working relationship.
Test the things that matter using realistic information: submit an enquiry, check that it arrives, complete a purchase if relevant and try the navigation on a phone. Review the content as a customer would, including contact details and the areas you serve.
After launch, check redirects, indexing and the important user journeys again. Make sure your team knows how to edit the site and who to contact if something breaks. A redesign is easier to build on when the handover includes practical ownership, a maintenance plan and a clear way to judge what happens next.