Website relaunch checklist: protect your visibility
For: Companies planning a website relaunch
Updated: 2026-10
A relaunch without ranking loss takes seven steps: a URL inventory from Search Console and a crawl, a redirect plan per URL, a locked staging environment, carrying over ranking content, clean canonicals and structured data, a controlled go-live, and follow-up checks over several weeks.
Most visibility losses after a relaunch are avoidable. They are caused not by the new system but by overlooked details: missing redirects, an accidentally indexed staging site, shortened content or a noindex not removed at go-live.
This checklist covers the points that decide success or loss in practice. Each has an auditable criterion for when it is genuinely done.
The checklist
- 01
Build a URL inventory
Export all URLs with impressions in the last twelve months from Search Console and reconcile them with a crawl of the existing site. URLs without internal links but with backlinks belong in it too.
Done when: A list exists recording each URL with impressions, clicks and target page, and nobody can find a relevant URL that is missing.
- 02
Redirect plan per URL
Map each old URL to the matching new page. Avoid blanket redirects to the home page; without an equivalent, a 404 or 410 is more honest.
Done when: Every URL in the inventory has a target or a deliberately chosen 404/410, and the plan is implemented as configuration, not just a spreadsheet.
- 03
Lock the staging environment
Run the new site with access protection and noindex before go-live so Google does not index it as a duplicate.
Done when: A search for the staging domain returns no results, and a request without credentials is rejected.
- 04
Carry over ranking content
Do not shorten pages with visibility without knowing why they rank. Core statements, headings and answers to common questions stay or are improved.
Done when: For the twenty most visible pages it is documented what content was carried over and what changed.
- 05
Check the technical setup
Unique canonicals, correct hreflang for multilingual sites, structured data, a sitemap with indexable URLs only, no redirect chains.
Done when: A crawl of staging shows no pages without a canonical, no hreflang pointing to missing pages and no chains with more than one redirect.
- 06
Run a controlled go-live
Remove noindex and access protection, activate redirects, submit the sitemap in Search Console, spot-check old URLs.
Done when: The ten most important old URLs redirect with status 301 or 308 in one step to their target, and the sitemap is marked as successfully processed in Search Console.
- 07
Follow up over weeks
In the weeks after launch, monitor the indexing report, 404 errors, impressions and clicks of key pages, and fix issues.
Done when: Check-ins after two and six weeks are scheduled with a named owner.
Common mistakes
- —Staging runs without protection and gets indexed by Google before the new site is live.
- —All old URLs are redirected to the home page. Google treats this as a soft 404, and individual pages lose their relevance.
- —The staging noindex stays active at go-live.
- —Well-ranking copy is cut for a new design without checking why it ranked.
What this checklist does not cover
- —The checklist covers the technical and content side of a relaunch, not brand strategy or design.
- —A domain change adds further steps, such as the change of address in Search Console.
- —Even a clean relaunch can cause short-term fluctuations while Google evaluates the new structure. There is no guarantee of unchanged rankings.
Parent service: Website Development
Matching offers
Website relaunch with an SEO and GEO foundation
A relaunch that protects visibility instead of losing it: we capture every URL with impressions from Search Console, build the new website on Next.js with technical SEO, structured data and a GEO foundation, permanently redirect old URLs to the matching new pages, and check indexing and redirects after go-live.
Technical SEO audit
A technical SEO audit examines the foundation of your findability: indexing, Core Web Vitals, structured data, crawling and site architecture. The result is a prioritised list of actions showing which technical levers deliver the greatest visibility gain — and in what order.
FAQ
When should redirect planning start?
Before design. The new structure should be created with a view to where existing visibility can flow.
301 or 308?
Both are permanent redirects and Google treats them the same. What matters is that they are permanent and point directly at the target.
How long must redirects stay in place?
At least a year, ideally permanently. Backlinks and bookmarks often point to old URLs for a long time.
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