How to Organize a Website Redesign Plan More Clearly Before Launch

Many website redesign plans read as complete, but once handed to designers and developers, the people executing them still do not know where to start. The problem is usually not the wording, but that the plan contains only direction, not objects: which pages to keep, which content to merge, how to handle old links, and which pages to open one by one before launch for confirmation—none of this is clearly written. To organize a redesign plan more clearly, the core is to replace "what to do" with "what to do for which page, which file, which section, and what counts as done."

Start with an inventory of the old site so the plan has a basis

The first part of a redesign plan should not be what the new homepage will look like, but what the old site currently has. Without this baseline, all later decisions are based on impressions.

For the inventory, it is recommended to export or organize three lists from the old site:

• Page list: List existing pages by section, recording each page's title, URL, section, and general content type (product introduction, case study, news, contact information, etc.). Export from the backend if possible; if not, click through the navigation layer by layer and record.
• Content list: How many products, cases, and articles are there? Which have been updated recently, and which have not been touched for two or three years? The criteria can be simple: content updated within the last year and still used in the business should be prioritized for retention.
• Link list: Record which pages have external links pointing to them and which pages are repeatedly referenced within the site. These pages should be handled more carefully during redesign because they serve more than a display purpose.

After the inventory is complete, the plan can clearly state "this redesign involves approximately how many pages and how many content items," rather than saying "comprehensively redesign the website."

Assign a destination to each content item instead of vaguely saying "optimize"

How to handle old content is the part most likely to be left empty in a redesign plan. Writing only "keep high-quality content and delete outdated content" does not help the executor judge which item belongs to which category. A clearer approach is to assign each content item a specific destination:

• Migrate as is: Content and structure remain unchanged, only the template changes. Suitable for product pages and case pages whose information is still accurate and structure is clear.
• Merge: Multiple content items cover the same topic and are combined into one more complete page. When merging, specify which URL to keep and how to handle the remaining URLs.
• Rewrite: The topic is still needed, but the content is outdated or unclear and needs to be reorganized.
• Retire: Content that is no longer part of the business and has no external references can be left out of the new site.

The criteria can be tied to specific actions: open the content item and check whether it is still within the current business scope, whether the information is still accurate, and whether other pages reference it. If two of these three questions get a negative answer, consider merging or retiring it.

Note that retiring content does not mean old links should immediately fail. Where old URLs point in the new site must be written as a separate section in the plan, not left for ad hoc handling after launch.

Use section structure to explain how content is organized

For section planning in a redesign plan, do not just draw a navigation map. A navigation map shows entry points; the plan must also explain what content each section holds, how levels are divided, and how they correspond to old sections.

An executable way to write this is to describe each section:

• Section name and level (first-level or second-level);
• What types of content this section includes and what the criteria are;
• Which old section or sections it corresponds to;
• Where content in old sections that does not meet the new standards goes.

For example, if the old site separates "News" and "Industry Information" into two sections, and the new site merges them into one, the plan should specify which old content is retained and which is no longer included, rather than just writing "integrate the information section." Section levels should also not be too deep. A corporate website usually needs only two to three levels; deeper levels make it hard for both visitors and maintainers to judge where content should go.

The order of pre-launch checks matters more than the number of check items

The last part of a redesign plan is the launch check. Rather than listing dozens of vague items like "check whether links work," it is better to write clearly, in order, what to look at in each step, who confirms it, and how to handle issues found.

The order can be arranged as follows:

1. First check structure and navigation: Starting from the homepage, click through each section layer by layer to confirm there are no empty sections, no inaccessible entry points, and no links pointing to old site addresses.
2. Then open key pages one by one: Open product pages, case pages, contact pages, and form pages individually to confirm content is complete, images display properly, and forms can be submitted.
3. Then check old links: Take out the old URL list exported during the inventory phase and visit each one to confirm that the new site opens the corresponding content or redirects to a reasonable location. This step cannot be done by spot-checking only, because the pages most likely to be missed are often those with low traffic.
4. Finally check details: Whether page titles are duplicated, whether image file names are easy for the team to search, whether contact information is updated, and whether footer information is accurate.

Each step can have a designated owner. Writing clearly in the plan "who confirms which step and when" is far more useful than writing "comprehensive check before launch."

Make the plan executable by others

A clear redesign plan has a simple test: if you hand it to a colleague who did not participate in the discussion, can they know what to do first, how each content item is handled, and which pages to check before launch? If not, it is usually because the plan still stays at descriptions like "optimize experience" and "improve structural clarity" without landing on pages, files, and actions.

When organizing, start with the inventory results, then content destinations, then section correspondence, and finally the check order. After writing, walk through the plan yourself: pick three old content items at random and see whether the plan tells you where each goes; pick five old URLs at random and see whether the plan explains how they are handled. Wherever you cannot walk through it, that is where details still need to be added.