The Website Redesign Checklist: Fix These Before You Start
Five quick wins to try first, how to tell if they worked, and what to gather if you still need a new site.
October 2026
By The Qivox team
A full redesign is a big decision. It takes weeks, it costs real money, and it can feel like the only answer when a site stops bringing in enquiries. Often it isn’t. This website redesign checklist starts with five fixes you can make to your current site, most of them in an hour or an afternoon. Do them first. If the site still isn’t working afterwards, you’ll go into a redesign knowing exactly what needs to change, and you’ll brief it far better.
Why fix before you redesign
Many of the problems we find in reviews have nothing to do with how old a site is. A brand-new site with a vague headline and three competing buttons will struggle just as much as an old one. A redesign that copies the same content into a new template copies the same problems with it.
Fixing the basics first does two things. It may solve the problem for the cost of an afternoon. And if it doesn’t, it rules out the easy explanations, so the redesign can focus on what is actually broken: structure, speed, platform or brand.
The five fixes, with honest effort estimates
01 A headline that says what you do (an hour): What you do, who it’s for and where, in one sentence. Replace “Welcome to our website” with something a stranger could repeat back. Our note on homepage headlines has a simple formula.
02 One clear button on every page (an hour): Decide the single most useful action on each page and make that button filled, high contrast and labelled with the outcome: “Book a table”, not “Submit”. Everything else becomes a quieter link.
03 Real photos instead of stock (a morning): Your people, your premises and your work. A phone camera in good daylight is often enough. Swap the hero image first, then the about page.
04 Lighter images (an afternoon): Resize images to the largest size they’re actually shown at, then compress them. Many small business sites can lose a large share of their page weight this way, and pages load noticeably faster on mobile.
05 A proper phone check (an afternoon): Book, buy or call using one hand on a real phone. Fix anything that makes you zoom, pinch or hunt: small text, cramped buttons, pop-ups that cover the page.
Most of these fixes cost nothing but time. Do them in order: the first two usually make the biggest difference.
How to tell if the fixes worked
Give the changes a few weeks, then look at what you can measure. You don’t need a complicated set-up.
Enquiries and bookings: The number that matters most. Compare the same few weeks before and after, and allow for seasonal swings.
Clicks on the main button: If your site has analytics, check how many people click your primary button. A rise here is an early sign the page is clearer.
Speed: Run your homepage through Google’s PageSpeed Insights before and after compressing images, so you have a clear before and after.
What people say: Ask new customers how they found you and whether the website helped. One honest comment is worth a lot of guesswork.
When a redesign really is the answer
Quick wins have limits. If you’ve made all five fixes and the site still isn’t pulling its weight, one of these is usually the reason:
The structure no longer fits the business. Services have changed, pages have been bolted on for years, and the menu has turned into a sitemap. The platform fights you. Simple edits need a developer, or a heavy theme keeps the site slow however small your images are. The brand has moved on. A new logo, new colours or a new audience that the old design can’t carry. It can’t do what you need. Online booking, selling products or a second language. Our list of signs your website is losing customers can help you tell the difference.
If you do redesign: a website redesign checklist for the brief
A good brief saves weeks. Gather these before you speak to any designer or studio:
Your goals in one line: “More consultation bookings from mobile” is a goal. “A modern look” isn’t, on its own.
Your top pages: List the pages people visit most and the ones that bring in enquiries. These need the most care, and their addresses should be kept or redirected so links and search rankings aren’t lost.
A content inventory: Every page you have, marked keep, rewrite or delete. Most sites can lose a third of their pages and nobody notices.
Your brand assets: Logo files, colours, typefaces and photos. If they’re scattered or out of date, sort that first or include it in the project.
What you’ll update yourself: Prices, news, team, opening hours. This shapes how the site should be built and edited.
Three sites you like, and why: Not to copy, but to show the feel you’re after: calm, bold, simple or warm.
Ready to talk about your site
If the quick wins have taken you as far as they can, our website design and development service starts from your goals and your existing content, not from a template. You can see the kind of sites we build in our work.
Not sure whether you need fixes or a full rebuild? Start with a free website review. We’ll score your site and rank the five changes we’d make first.
