In the year 2025 your business is as good as dead without a website. Online businesses and reach are the new norm. Assuming you already have a website, maintenance and updates following the times is essential. Here is the checklist for the things to look out for when redesigning your site.

Define The Goal for The Redesign

Before redesigning your site ask these questions:

1. Why are you redesigning? (More sales, more leads, more reach, better branding, mobile-friendly?)
2. What’s not working on the current site?

Such questions will give you a clear picture on what a priority on your site is.

Audit the Current Website

Run performance checks and determine which pages work well (keep them if they are good), what pages are unnecessary, what pages lag and what pages need new updates to reflect the current regime.

Check:

1. Page speed
2. Mobile usability
3. Broken links
4. Outdated content

Know Your Target Audience
Ask yourself questions like:

1. Who actually uses your site?
2. What devices are they on? Mobile, Desktop, Tablet?
3. What problem are they trying to solve with your site?

Customers come first, knowing their needs and catering to those needs will push you further.

Mobile First Design (Not up for discussion)

If your site is ugly or slow on a phone, you’re losing customers.

Ensure:

1. Responsive layout
2. Easy-to-tap buttons
3. Readable text on small screens
4. Fast load times on mobile data

Improve Site Speed and Performance

Most sites lag due to overuse of images. You don’t need 20 images to convey a message, this isn’t Photoshop. One image and a clever design is all you need. Enable caching, use proper hosting with a proper hosting company to cater to your needs and reduce unnecessary plugins/scripts.

Update the Visual Design and Branding

Consistent colors, fonts, logo, clean modern layout and enough white space is all you need to take into consideration.

Fix Navigation and Site Structure

Define a logical page hierarchy and a simple clear menu to not overwhelm the user.

Important pages easy to find must include:

1. Home
2. About
3. Services/Products
4. Contact

If users get confused or lost, they’re gone. Keep their attention

Integrate Business Tools

1. Contact forms
2. WhatsApp or live chat
3. Email signup forms
4. Google analytics and Search console
5. Social media links

Your website should work for you, not just look appealing.

Security and Technical Checks

1. SSL certificate (HTTPS)
2. Updated CMS/plugins
3. Backup system in place
4. Spam protection on forms

Security isn’t optional, especially for small businesses.

Test Everything Before Launch

Test your site on multiple browsers and devices, check forms and CTA’s, click every link available and check if it is performing its intended goal. Fix every bug before launch.

After you go through this list for the steps to take before redesigning you may hire a Web Development team like us at Mbuna-inc to handle your site with your needs and requirements to launch and handle post-launch monitoring for bugs found, track traffic and user behavior, and watch for broken links.