The B2B Website Redesign Checklist: 40 Things to Get Right Before You Launch

A comprehensive pre-launch checklist for B2B website redesigns. Strategy, SEO, design, development, content, analytics, and legal — everything that gets missed, organised so nothing falls through the cracks.

Why B2B website redesigns go wrong

A B2B website redesign is a complex, multi-month project involving strategy, design, development, content, SEO, and legal. Most projects that fail do not fail because of bad design or poor code — they fail because something important was not checked before launch. Rankings were lost because redirects were not set up. Leads stopped arriving because forms were not tested. The analytics showed zero data for three months because the tracking was broken.

This checklist is organised by discipline. Use it as a final audit in the 2–4 weeks before launch. Every item here represents something we have seen go wrong in a real project.

Strategy and positioning

• ✓The homepage headline communicates who this is for and what changes for them — not just what the company does
• ✓The value proposition is specific and differentiated — not "high quality" or "experienced team" but something competitors cannot claim
• ✓The primary call to action reflects how buyers actually want to engage — not a "contact us" button when buyers want to see a demo
• ✓The site reflects your actual ICP — not trying to appeal to every possible customer
• ✓Proof points (case studies, results, testimonials) are specific and credible — not generic claims

SEO — pre-launch

• ✓301 redirects set up from all old URLs to new URLs — without this, you lose all rankings and backlink equity from your old site
• ✓Crawl your old site before launch and document every URL that exists — use Screaming Frog or similar
• ✓Every new page has a unique, keyword-relevant title tag (50–60 characters)
• ✓Every new page has a unique meta description (150–160 characters) — not auto-generated
• ✓XML sitemap generated, reviewed, and ready to submit — does not include noindex pages or non-canonical URLs
• ✓Canonical tags correct on all pages — no duplicate content issues
• ✓Robots.txt reviewed — staging environment is blocked, production is not
• ✓Heading hierarchy correct: one H1 per page, logical H2/H3 structure
• ✓Internal linking updated — old internal links updated to new URLs
• ✓Structured data (JSON-LD) implemented for organisation, services, and relevant content types
• ✓If multilingual: hreflang tags implemented correctly and validated

Technical performance

• ✓Core Web Vitals passing on mobile and desktop — test with Google PageSpeed Insights and Lighthouse
• ✓All images compressed and using modern formats (WebP) where supported
• ✓Images have alt text — both for accessibility and SEO
• ✓Fonts loading efficiently — self-hosted or properly optimised Google Fonts
• ✓JavaScript properly deferred or lazy-loaded — not blocking first render
• ✓HTTPS active and correctly configured — no mixed content warnings
• ✓Mobile tested on real devices (not just browser emulation) — different browsers on iOS and Android
• ✓404 error page set up and branded — with navigation back to key pages
• ✓Website tested in Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge

Content

• ✓All placeholder content (Lorem Ipsum) replaced with real copy
• ✓All team photos are current and consistent in style
• ✓Case studies are approved by clients — written consent to publish
• ✓All external links checked — no linking to broken or moved pages
• ✓All testimonials attributed with name, title, and company — "John S." does not build trust
• ✓Blog and resource content updated — no publishing-date-based embarrassment
• ✓All forms tested — submissions arrive in the right place, with correct notifications

Analytics and tracking

• ✓Google Analytics 4 (or equivalent) installed and verified — test with real pageviews
• ✓Key conversion events tracked — form submissions, demo requests, CTA clicks
• ✓Google Search Console verified and new sitemap submitted on launch day
• ✓CRM integration tested — contact form submissions flowing into your CRM correctly
• ✓Previous Analytics data not lost — if changing GA properties, old data is archived

Legal and compliance

• ✓Cookie consent correctly implemented — compliant with GDPR, FADP, or CCPA depending on markets served
• ✓Privacy policy updated to reflect any new data collection on the new site
• ✓Terms of service or service agreement accessible from footer
• ✓All images and assets licensed — no unlicensed stock photography or font usage
• ✓Company registration details, VAT number (if applicable), and registered address visible in footer

Launch day protocol

On launch day itself, this is the sequence:

1. Final review of 301 redirect map — complete and tested in staging
2. DNS propagation — allow 24–48 hours; warn the team not to panic if some people still see the old site
3. Submit new sitemap to Google Search Console immediately after launch
4. Verify tracking is live — check real-time view in GA4
5. Test all forms once more on the live site — not staging
6. Check that email notifications from forms are arriving correctly
7. Monitor Search Console for crawl errors in the first 48 hours
8. Announce the new site — social media, email to existing contacts, press if warranted