SEO Checklist for Website Redevelopment (2025 Edition)

SEO Checklist for Website
Redevelopment

Website tech, UX standards, and Google’s algorithms evolve constantly. What was “best practice” in 2021 can be a liability today – especially with Core Web Vitals, mobile-first indexing, AI-powered search experiences, and privacy-centred analytics. A redevelopment is your chance to protect hard-won rankings while leveling up performance, UX, and conversions.

This guide reframes your draft into a complete, modern playbook. It’s written for business owners, marketers, and dev teams who want a risk-managed relaunch that preserves equity and drives more organic growth.

What counts as a “successful” redevelopment?

No material loss of organic traffic or rankings in the 2–6 weeks after launch.
Better UX & conversion rate (faster site, cleaner IA, fewer friction points).
Improved crawlability & indexation (clean sitemaps, canonical logic, schema).
Clear analytics (accurate GA4/GTM events, Search Console verified and stable).
Sustainable foundation (maintainable code, accessible design, governance, and content ops).

The Redevelopment SEO Checklist

1. Set measurable SEO goals (the SMART way)

Translate business outcomes into trackable SEO objectives that inform design and content decisions.

Tip: Document these in your project brief and connect them to reporting dashboards so the entire team can see progress post-launch.

2. Audit the current site (before you touch anything)

A thoughtful baseline audit prevents accidental equity loss and shows where gains live.

Collect benchmarks

Traffic & conversions: GA4 non-brand organic sessions, goal completions, assisted conversions.
Rankings: Top keywords, rich results, local pack placements.
Content performance: Top 50 landing pages by organic sessions/leads; pages with high dwell time or inbound links.
Engagement pain points: Bounce rate, scroll depth, exit rate on key templates.
Technical health: Crawl errors, index bloat, duplicate content, canonical coverage, structured data status.
Backlink profile: Pages attracting links; anchor text distribution.
Core Web Vitals: Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS), Interaction to Next Paint (INP).

Deliverables

3. Preserve high-performing content (equity protection plan)

Identify pages with:

Rules of thumb

4. Keyword strategy & page-level mapping

Limited Customisation Possibilities- Computing Australia Group

Redevelopments often falter because the IA and new templates are designed before search intent is mapped. Flip that sequence.

Build a keyword universe grouped by intent: informational, commercial, transactional, local.
Map one primary keyword (+2–3 semantic supports) to one page to avoid cannibalisation.
Use AU/Melbourne/Perth spellings and local modifiers where relevant.
Create content gaps list: FAQs, comparison pages, location pages, service subtopics, and helpful blog/guide content.

On-page placement checklist

Title tag (≤ 60 chars), H1, early body copy (first 100–150 words)
Descriptive, human-readable URL slug
Meta description (≤ 155–160 chars)
Image alt text and file names
Internal links with natural anchor text

5. Information architecture (IA) that’s user-first and bot-friendly

If users can’t find it, Google probably can’t either.

Processes aim for ≤ 3 clicks from home to any key page.
Hub & spoke: build category hubs (e.g., Services) that link to focused subpages.
Breadcrumbs: implement BreadcrumbList schema and visual breadcrumbs.
Faceted navigation: noindex thin combinations; use canonicalisation to the clean version.
Pagination: keep series links clear; use logic that avoids infinite scroll without crawl paths.

Menu design

6. Redirect strategy (the safety net you can’t skip)

Incorrect redirects are the #1 cause of migration-related traffic drops.

Create a URL mapping sheet with columns: Old URL → New URL → Redirect type (301) → Notes.
One hop only: avoid chains (A→B→C). Make A→C a direct 301.
Preserve parameters where needed (e.g., tracking, filters).
Test on staging (via hosts file or password-protected environment).
After launch, run a crawl to validate status 200 on new URLs and 301 from any legacy ones.

7. Performance & Core Web Vitals (speed that converts)

Visitors bounce when pages take more than ~3 seconds on mobile – and Google notices.

Quick wins

Optimise hero media: compress and set dimensions; use modern formats (AVIF/WebP).
Lazy-load non-critical images/iframes.
Inline critical CSS, defer the rest; remove unused CSS/JS.
Reduce third-party tags; load via GTM with consent and trigger rules.
Use a CDN and proper caching headers.
Preload key fonts (WOFF2), limit weight and variants; use font-display: swap.
Avoid layout shifts with explicit width/height and aspect-ratio boxes.

Incorrect redirects are the #1 cause of migration-related traffic drops.

Metrics targets

9. Content optimisation (helpful, expert, conversion-ready)

Google’s helpful content signals reward clear, original, experience-backed pages.

Align each page to one primary intent.
Use scannable structure: descriptive H2/H3s, short paragraphs, bullet lists, tables.
Add first-hand experience: examples, data points, screenshots, results.
Include FAQs marked up with FAQPage schema.
Add trust signals: author bios, credentials, case studies, testimonials, review snippets.
Maintain consistent tone that matches your brand and Australian audience.
Calls-to-action (CTAs) visible and relevant: book a consult, request a quote, download a guide.

10. Image, video, and media SEO

Descriptive file names (/images/managed-it-perth-audit.webp).
alt text that describes purpose/context (not keyword stuffing).
Captions where it helps comprehension.
Video: provide transcripts, structured data (VideoObject), and an image thumbnail.
Host key videos where you control the schema and page relevance; use YouTube for reach and embed if desired.

11. Local SEO considerations (for Australia)

Consistent NAP (Name, Address, Phone) in the footer and on a Contact/Locations page.
Google Business Profile: categories, services, products, photos, and regular posts.
Location pages: unique content per city/suburb, embedded map, local testimonials, driving directions.
Add LocalBusiness schema with geo and service area details.

12. Analytics & measurement (GA4 done right)

Configure GA4 with clean event tracking (form submits, CTA clicks, phone/email link clicks, downloads).
Server-side tagging (optional but recommended) to reduce client payload and improve data quality.
Connect Google Search Console; verify pre-launch and re-check after DNS/cert changes.
Create Looker Studio dashboards for executives (traffic, leads, revenue attribution, Core Web Vitals, top queries/landing pages).

13. Staging QA → Launch → Post-launch monitoring

Staging QA checklist

Meta tags present; no rogue noindex on pages that should rank.
Canonicals self-referencing (except deliberate variations).
Schema validates (Rich Results Test).
Forms, popups, search, pagination, filters all work.
404 page helpful and branded; 410 where content is permanently gone.
Performance tests on mobile emulation.

Launch day checklist

Remove staging passwords and noindex.
Deploy redirect file and test samples of every mapping group.
Submit new XML sitemap to GSC.
Re-verify property and check coverage reports.
Trigger a lightweight crawl (500–1,000 URLs) to spot errors quickly.

First 2–4 weeks

Check GSC Coverage and Pages reports daily for spikes in errors.
Watch Core Web Vitals field data; resolve regressions fast.
Compare GA4 non-brand organic sessions and conversions vs. baseline.
Reclaim lost links: reach out if any high-value referrers still link to old URLs despite redirects.

14. Governance, cadence, and continuous improvement

SEO is not a line item in your relaunch; it’s a commitment.

Content calendar: two high-quality posts/guides per month focused on bottom- and mid-funnel topics.
Quarterly technical reviews: CWV, crawl waste, internal link opportunities, schema expansions.
Link earning: case studies, local sponsorships, digital PR, partner features.
Team roles: who owns redirects, content releases, schema, and analytics.

Jargon Buster (quick definitions)

XML Sitemap: A machine-readable list of URLs you want indexed.
Landing Page: A page designed to satisfy a specific intent and drive an action.
Backlinks: Links from other domains pointing to your site - major authority signal.
Core Web Vitals: Field-measured UX metrics - LCP, CLS, INP.
Canonical URL: The preferred version of a page when duplicates/variants exist.
Schema Markup: Structured data that helps search engines understand your content and show rich results.
301 Redirect: Permanent redirect that transfers most link equity to the new URL.
Index Bloat: Too many low-value pages in Google’s index that dilute crawl budget.

SEO Checklist for Website Redevelopment (2025 Edition)