.svg)
Introduction
A Webflow website redesign is a significant investment. The projects that go smoothly share one thing in common: preparation. The ones that drag on and cost more than expected share another: they started before they were ready.
This guide covers everything you need to do before a redesign project begins, so you spend your budget on building, not on discovery and cleanup.
1. Audit Your Current Site
Before redesigning, understand what you have:
- Traffic and analytics: Which pages get traffic? Which convert? Don't redesign pages that are working.
- Top landing pages: These need careful migration — SEO equity and inbound links from these pages must be preserved
- Broken links and 404s: Catalog them now so they're fixed in the new build, not carried over
- Current conversion rates: Establish a baseline before you change anything
2. Map Every URL
This is the most important technical preparation step. Create a spreadsheet mapping every current URL to its planned URL in the new site. For URLs that are changing, plan your 301 redirects before development begins.
Missing redirects cause SEO ranking drops that take months to recover from. The URL mapping document is your insurance policy against that.
3. Define Your Goals Clearly
"Better design" isn't a goal. These are goals:
- Increase demo booking rate from 1.2% to 2.5%
- Reduce homepage bounce rate below 65%
- Rank on page 1 for three target keywords
- Cut page load time to under 2 seconds
Clear goals define what success looks like. They also prevent scope creep — every feature request can be evaluated against whether it helps achieve the goal.
4. Prepare Your Content
The most common project delay: waiting for client content. Don't let this be you.
Before the redesign starts:
- Write all copy for each page (or at least solid drafts)
- Gather photography, illustrations, or arrange a shoot
- Prepare case study content (results, client quotes, project details)
- Collect team bios and headshots
Agencies can work with placeholder content, but the final site always requires real content before launch. Starting with real content produces a better design and eliminates a late-stage delay.
5. Document Your Technical Requirements
List all integrations and functional requirements before the project brief:
- CRM integration (HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive)
- Analytics and tracking (GA4, Hotjar, Segment)
- Chat and support tools (Intercom, Crisp)
- Email marketing (Mailchimp, ConvertKit)
- Form requirements (multi-step forms, file upload, conditional logic)
- Any custom functionality (calculators, quizzes, configurators)
Surprises in technical requirements late in a project are expensive. Surface them early.
6. Define Your Brand Assets
Before the design phase begins:
- Confirm your logo files (SVG preferred)
- Confirm your brand colors (hex codes)
- Confirm your typography (font licenses, Google Fonts, or custom)
- Provide brand guidelines if they exist
If your brand isn't defined or needs a refresh, that's a separate workstream that should complete before the web project begins. Our branding and UI/UX design service covers this.
7. Align Internal Stakeholders
The most expensive changes in a web project are the ones that happen at the end because a key stakeholder hadn't been involved. Before kickoff:
- Get sign-off on the sitemap and scope
- Identify who has final approval authority
- Set expectations on feedback timeline (5 business days per round is standard)
- Agree on a launch date that all parties are committed to
Conclusion
The work you do before a redesign directly determines how smoothly it runs. Teams that show up to kickoff with URL maps, content drafts, brand assets, and clear goals get better results in less time. Teams that treat the agency kickoff as the starting point for their own preparation spend more and get less.
When you're ready to start, explore our Webflow portfolio and our Webflow services, or get in touch to discuss your project.
