5 Mistakes to Avoid When Redesigning Your Website
A redesign is sold as an upgrade and often delivers a quieter phone. The failures are predictable and almost always the same five. If you are about to approve a rebuild, check the plan against this list first.
Mistake 1: Changing URLs without redirects
Search rankings and inbound links are attached to specific addresses. A redesign that renames /services/roof-repair/ to /roofing/repairs/ without a permanent redirect throws away that history and starts the page from zero. Insist on a full map of old addresses to new ones, with a 301 redirect for every page that had traffic or links. Will a redesign hurt my ranking? has the complete migration checklist.
Mistake 2: Cutting the content that was working
Designers trim text for a cleaner look; the text they trim is often exactly what the page ranked for and what convinced visitors to call. Before anything is removed, know which pages bring search traffic and enquiries and what on them matters. Redesign the presentation; keep the substance. Ranking factors that matter explains why relevance lives in the words.
Mistake 3: Hiding the way to contact you
The phone number ends up in a graphic that cannot be tapped, the form moves to a contact page three clicks away, the address disappears from the footer. Each one costs enquiries and weakens local search signals. Phone number and form above the fold on every page, in text, on every device. Optimising lead conversion puts this in its top five.
Mistake 4: Launching a slower site
New themes, more plugins, autoplaying video, uncompressed hero images. It is common for a redesigned site to load slower on a phone than the one it replaced, and speed is both a ranking factor and the first thing a visitor experiences. Test on the mobile setting of a speed tool before launch and require the new site to beat the old one. The web design hub covers why lighter builds win, and builders who work static by policy, Dynamic Digital Marketing's website design page is one public example, explain the trade-off plainly.
Mistake 5: Redesigning for the wrong reason
"It looks dated" is a designer's reason. The owner's reasons are measurable: the site converts poorly, it cannot be updated, it is slow, it is insecure, or the structure blocks a new service or market. If none of those apply, refresh the content and the photos, fix the forms and leave the structure alone. Why strategy beats design is the piece to read before the brief is written.
The pre-approval checklist
Six things to see in writing before you sign
- Written URL map with redirects for every page that matters
- Inventory of ranking content and a commitment to preserve it
- Contact details in text, above the fold, every page, plus structured data
- Mobile speed target faster than the current site, tested before launch
- A measured reason for the rebuild and a baseline of traffic and enquiries to compare against
- Staging site blocked from search; live site unblocked at launch
A designer who resists any of these is telling you how the project will go. One who volunteers them is worth hiring. The six types of websites will help you brief them on what kind of site you actually need.
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