WordPress Redesign Checklist: 25 Things to Fix for Better Leads, Speed, and SEO

The first step of a redesign is actually auditing your current SEO performance.This includes auditing Google Search Console to measure your current organic performance and page loadspeed. The idea here is to compare your previous performance with your new metrics once the site has migrated over to the new design.

If things look worse after the redesign (traffic losses, increased bounce rate, etc), then the only way to restore things is to use a backup.Before starting the redesign, you should always back up your website. Most hosting providers have this as an option, and you can also use plugins to do the same thing.

Decide on specific, measurable goals before you start changing templates or content.These should be related to your business.For example, WooCommerce websites should focus on sales. Other important metrics could be form submissions or phone calls for local businesses.For other businesses, email signups might be the priority.

Another important snapshot to get before you start the redesign process is your site traffic sources.Make sure to get an idea of your traffic sources so you can compare these after you launch the new version of the site. This is more to look out for any sudden changes.

All designs should be mobile-first, so it’s very important to check your new redesign on mobile (and all other devices).Open key pages on a few devices and screen sizes – look for layout shifts, missing buttons, or tiny unreadable text.

Load speed is very important, and not just as a vanity metric.Attention spans are only decreasing with time, so if your site doesn’t load fast and give the user what they want, this can lead to lower conversions and an increased bounce rate.We have a full guide for optimising WordPress load speed, which you can find here.You should also consider whether you will use a custom theme for the redesign or a page builder.

When you redesign your site, you may notice that some internal links are not working like they used to. You may not even notice some of these at all.Broken internal links can impact user experience, so make sure to crawl your site and check for these automatically. Any broken internal links should be fixed as soon as possible.

Updating permalinks can be useful to improve site structure, and doing this during a redesign is a good opportunity to clean things up.If your website is well established and receives a lot of traffic, it can often be better to keep things as they are, rather than implementing a new structure.It all depends on which pages are ranking and how necessary a structural change is.

Any old URLs that have changed should be 301 redirected to the correct URL during a redesign.Like internal links, this is more technical and requires a crawling tool.

This goes hand in hand with improving page load speed.Core Web Vitals are a set of metrics laid out by Google that give you a ‘score’ for how fast your website loads. It’s important to use these as a guideline for improving load speed during a WordPress website redesign.

HTTPS must remain active during a redesign, as it will cause a security warning if the certificate is not transferred across to the new website.Most of the time, this isn’t a problem, but it’s always worth checking to make sure your certificate stays in place.

A redesign is a great opportunity to clean up site navigation.Some key things we look to improve are:

• Implementing breadcrumb navigation on inner pages
• Audit the main navigation menu
• Testing navigation on different devices

Adding structured data helps with SEO, and it’s quite easy to do for WordPress sites.Doing this during a redesign can help give your website an SEO boost.

Another bit of housekeeping you can do during a redesign is to check title tags and meta descriptions.If they are outdated (or not added at all), then now is a good time to add these. Make sure they include keywords relevant to the pages, and keep the descriptions under 160 characters.

Make sure all images are compressed so that their file size is smaller while maintaining quality. This keeps load speed down and makes your website more accessible.Also, make sure all images have descriptive alt text – this helps users who require screen readers to understand your website.

Audit your existing pages for thin, outdated, or duplicate content.Now is a good time to update copy on high-traffic pages and work on your brand’s positioning.

This one is often overlooked, but it’s very important to make sure that each page layout is loading consistently.Check that headings, spacing, and component placement are consistent across your key templates. Inconsistent layouts confuse people and make your site look less professional.

Audit your plugins before the redesign.Any plugins that are inactive or simply unnecessary should be removed. This helps your website load faster, and it can also make sure it is working as intended without bugs.

Add caching to cut page load times and ease server load. Use a solid plugin or your host’s built-in cache for page, object, and database caching.Test after turning on caching, and remember to purge caches when you update content or themes. If you use preloading, make sure it rebuilds caches automatically to keep performance steady.

Picking a reliable host can make or break your site’s speed, uptime, and security. All those things shape the user experience and can also play a role in your rankings.If you decide to change hosting during a redesign, make sure you choose a reliable provider and keep a backup in case anything goes sideways.

Before launching a new page, you’ll want to know what your audience is actually searching for. Tools like Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, or Similarweb can help you dig up seed terms, long-tail options, and figure out search intent.Group related keywords into clusters so each page targets one main phrase and maybe a couple of supporting queries. That way, you avoid cannibalizing your own keywords and actually answer what users want.

After a redesign, make sure your XML sitemap is up to date and includes any new pages that went live as part of the redesign process.Search engines need to see the new URL structure and any changes in priority.Most WordPress SEO plugins and sitemap tools can rebuild it for you, but double-check that it’s actually updated.Submit the new sitemap URL in Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools.

Robots.txt tells search engines what they can and can’t crawl on your site. Allow the important stuff, but block admin, staging, or duplicate sections that just waste crawl budget.Add the sitemap directive so crawlers can find your XML sitemap right away. Keep your rules straightforward – overcomplicating or blocking too much can hide pages you want indexed.Try out changes using Google Search Console’s robots tester before you go live. After updates, keep an eye on crawl errors and index coverage to make sure search engines are doing what you expect.

All WordPress sites should be connected to Google Analytics and Search Console.Depending on how you implemented the redesign, the connection to these services may break.When you deploy the redesign, check Search Console and Google Analytics to make sure they are still connected to your site.

The last thing to think about is compliance.Your site should be usable for people with visual, auditory, cognitive, and motor impairments. Aim to follow WCAG 2.1 AA as a minimum standard.Most of the time, your website will be accessible, but issues can sometimes pop up with redesigns, especially if you introduce a strong colour scheme.

At Identify Digital, we’ve helped numerous clients redesign their WordPress websites, improving conversions and brand identity along the way.If you’re looking for a trusted WordPress partner, you can learn more about our services here.