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Website rebuilds rarely go wrong in the design. They go wrong in the things nobody wrote down: the old page addresses, where the email is hosted, the form nobody remembers configuring. These four checks take about an hour and save the week you'd otherwise lose.
1. Take a full backup, and test it
Back up the whole site, both the files and the database, before anyone touches anything. Then check that the backup actually restores. A backup you've never restored is a folder you have feelings about.
The easiest way to test is to restore it to a staging copy or a temporary address. If you're hosted with us, your plan includes daily backups, but take a fresh one yourself on the day work starts. Our guide to backups and restore shows how.
2. Write down every page address
Export a list of every URL on your current site. Your sitemap is a good starting point, and Google Search Console shows which pages actually bring in visitors.
When the new site launches, every old address needs to redirect to its new equivalent. Changing page addresses without redirects is the most common way businesses accidentally delete their own search rankings: Google finds a broken link where your best page used to be and drops it from results. Set the redirects up as part of the rebuild, not after someone notices the traffic has fallen.
3. Find out where your email is hosted
Your email is very often hosted somewhere different from your website. That's normal, but it means a careless DNS change during the launch can take your email down along with the old site.
Before the launch, note your domain's current MX records (which control where email goes) and your SPF, DKIM and DMARC records (which control whether it's trusted; see SPF, DKIM and DMARC explained). Whoever moves the website should change only the records that point at the website, and leave the email records exactly as they are.
4. Screenshot what you couldn't rebuild from memory
- Opening hours, prices and contact details.
- Every form, and where its submissions are sent.
- Any third-party code: analytics, chat widgets, booking systems, payment buttons.
- Logins for anything connected to the site, and who holds them.
On launch day
- Check the redirects with a handful of old addresses.
- Send yourself a test from every form.
- Send and receive an email, to confirm nothing changed.
- Check the new site on a phone, on mobile data, not just on the desktop it was built on.
Moving your website to us as part of a redesign? Open a ticket before the launch and we'll help you plan the DNS changes so your email keeps working throughout.