Before launching a website redesign, there are 10 points to check: objectives, an audit of the existing site, audiences, content, choice of CMS, migration SEO, visual identity, accessibility and performance, budget and schedule, and the teams who will keep the site alive. Preparing these points avoids the two main risks of a redesign: losing search rankings and rebuilding a site that does not meet needs any better.
Updated on October 26, 2026
Written by Emmanuel Cruellas, co-founder and design director of Bonhomme.
1. Redesign or update your website?
A redesign is not always necessary. If the site is recent and fast, and only some content is ageing, an update is enough. A redesign becomes useful when several signals add up:
- the site's image no longer matches the brand's positioning;
- visitors cannot find information and the conversion rate is falling;
- the CMS is hard to use, and the teams can no longer update the site on their own;
- the site is slow, poorly suited to mobile or not very accessible;
- the offer has changed and the site's architecture no longer reflects it.
Example: Château La Mascaronne had a corporate website. The redesign turned it into an e-commerce platform, to sell its wines while telling the story of the estate.
2. The 10-point checklist
| Point | What to check | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Objectives | What the redesign must improve, and how it will be measured (leads, sales, image, autonomy) | Without a clear objective, there is no way to know whether the redesign succeeded |
| 2. Audit of the existing site | Analytics, pages that attract traffic, pages that convert, user feedback | You don't break what already works |
| 3. Audiences and journeys | Who visits the site and what each audience is looking for | The site must guide every visitor to the right information |
| 4. Content | What to keep, rewrite or delete, and who produces it | Content is often what delays a launch the most |
| 5. Choice of CMS | WordPress, Framer, Sanity or another, depending on use and the teams | The wrong CMS holds teams back for years |
| 6. Migration SEO | List of URLs, redirect plan, tags, structured data | This is where search rankings are lost during a redesign |
| 7. Visual identity | Should it evolve at the same time as the site? | Rebuilding the site on an outdated identity limits the result |
| 8. Accessibility and performance | Accessibility standards (RGAA), loading speed, mobile version | These are criteria for users, for Google and for AI engines |
| 9. Budget and schedule | Budget envelope, steps, realistic launch date | A schedule that is too tight comes at the expense of quality |
| 10. Teams | Who approves, who updates the site after launch, who is trained | A site that is not kept up to date ages very quickly |
3. Migration SEO: protecting your search rankings
A poorly prepared redesign can lose a large share of its traffic within a few weeks. Pages change address, Google can no longer find them and links pointing to the site lead to errors. To avoid this, the Bonhomme studio always follows the same method:
- list every URL on the current site and identify those that attract traffic or links;
- keep important addresses whenever possible;
- set up a 301 redirect for every page that changes address;
- carry over titles, meta descriptions and structured data;
- check the redirects right after launch, then monitor traffic in Search Console over the following weeks.
→ Going further: SEO vs GEO, definitions, differences and an integrated strategy
4. Costly mistakes
- Starting with design without defining objectives or auditing the existing site.
- Forgetting redirects and losing the traffic of old pages.
- Waiting until the end of the project to deal with content.
- Choosing a CMS for its features, without thinking about the teams who will use it.
- Launching the site without training anyone to keep it alive.
5. Three redesigns led by the studio
For the redesign of its corporate website, Omnicom Reputation Group entrusted Bonhomme with the content architecture, UX-UI, a design system and a WebGL layer. Eight areas of expertise and two languages coexist in a fast, accessible site, and the teams publish their analyses independently in WordPress.
As its brand guidelines evolved, France Télévisions entrusted Bonhomme with the UX-UI redesign of its corporate website. The information architecture was rethought around distinct journeys for institutional audiences, journalists and partners, in line with RGAA accessibility standards.
For Le Cèdre Rouge, the website redesign went hand in hand with a complete repositioning of the brand. Results: conversion rate up 24%, average basket up 5% and revenue up 11%.
6. The Bonhomme vision
“A successful redesign rarely starts with design. It starts with a simple question: what should the site do better tomorrow?”
Emmanuel Cruellas, co-founder & design director
“Most disappointing redesigns forgot one thing: the teams who will keep the site alive. A beautiful site that nobody knows how to update ages within six months.”
Morgane Urbain, co-founder & creative director
Frequently asked questions
Preparing your website redesign?
The studio welcomes you on the Quai de la Loire in Paris to talk it through.