Website Audit and Relaunch

No relaunch without thorough analysis. Blind redevelopment repeats old mistakes. Analysis before action, data before opinions.

Scope

Use this skill when you:

• Systematically analyze an existing website
• Plan and structure a relaunch
• Conduct a content audit
• Prepare an SEO migration
• Set up post-launch monitoring
• Create a quick initial assessment (quick audit)

Principles

1. Analysis Before Action

No relaunch without thorough analysis of the existing website.

2. Relaunch Is Not Redesign

A redesign polishes the surface. A relaunch reworks content, technology, structure, AND design holistically.

3. Data Over Opinions

Decisions are based on analytics, user feedback, and technical measurements.

4. Visitor Needs Meet Business Goals

A successful relaunch serves visitors better AND supports business objectives more effectively.

5. Nothing Works Without a Content Strategy

The best layouts are useless with outdated, irrelevant content.

6. Preserve SEO Continuity

A relaunch that destroys rankings is an expensive setback. Redirects and SEO migration are mandatory.

7. A Relaunch Is Not an End in Itself

"We need something new" is not a goal. Concrete, measurable objectives come before the first wireframe.

Rules

DO: Systematically Work Through the 5 Analysis Dimensions

1. Technical Analysis: Load times (PageSpeed, GTmetrix), mobile usability, broken links, HTTPS, CMS currency.

2. Usability Analysis: Navigation paths, forms on all devices, CTA visibility, search functionality, Nielsen heuristics.

3. Content Analysis: Currency, user relevance, structure (subheadings, paragraphs), duplicates, content gaps.

4. SEO Analysis: Keyword rankings, meta titles/descriptions, internal linking, crawling errors, backlink profile.

5. Conversion Analysis: Conversion goals and current rates, user flow, drop-off rates, heatmaps, and session recordings.

See references/audit-checklisten.md for details and templates for each dimension.

DO: Clarify Internally Before the Relaunch

• Timeline: When should the new website go live?
• Budget: What is realistically available?
• Points of Contact: Who decides, who delivers content?
• Hosting and Access: Where is the website hosted, who has credentials?
• Internal Capacity: Can the team contribute?

DO: Conduct a Content Audit Before the Relaunch

• INVENTORY all content (text, images, downloads, videos).
• CATEGORIZE: Keep / Revise / Delete / Create new.
• CRITERIA: Currency, relevance, SEO performance, quality.

DO: Conduct a Competitive Analysis

• ANALYZE at least 3–5 direct competitors.
• EVALUATE: Design, content, features, site structure, SEO visibility.
• DOCUMENT: What are others doing better? Where are the gaps?

DO: Plan the SEO Migration

• DOCUMENT all existing URLs.
• CREATE 301 redirects for every URL that changes.
• PROTECT existing rankings and backlinks.
• MONITOR Google Search Console after launch.
• UPDATE sitemap and robots.txt.

DO: Define Measurable Relaunch Goals

Examples: Load time under 3 seconds, 20% more organic traffic within 6 months, doubling newsletter sign-ups, reducing bounce rate by 15%.

DON'T: Try to Redo Everything

• Identify what works and carry it over.
• Migrate pages with strong rankings with particular care.

DON'T: Launch Without a Testing Phase

• Test before go-live: Functional, visual, across devices, SEO-related.

DON'T: Forget SEO Redirects

• Every old URL needs a 301 redirect. Forgotten redirects = lost rankings.

DON'T: Stop After Launch

• The relaunch is the beginning. Monitoring, optimization, and content maintenance are ongoing responsibilities.

Patterns

Relaunch Process (7 Phases)

1. Analysis (5 dimensions), 2. Strategy (goals, positioning, content), 3. Concept (IA, wireframes), 4. Design, 5. Implementation (development, content, SEO), 6. Testing (QA, cross-browser, performance), 7. Launch and monitoring. See references/relaunch-phasen.md for details.

Quick Audit (2 Hours)

For an initial assessment: 1. PageSpeed test (15 min), 2. Mobile check on 3 devices (15 min), 3. Navigation and key pages (30 min), 4. Quick SEO check (30 min), 5. Test conversion path (15 min), 6. 5-point summary (15 min).

Content Migration Matrix

For large volumes: Table with old URL, new URL, redirect, status, responsible person, deadline.

Post-Launch Monitoring (30-60-90 Days)

• Days 1–7: Daily: 404 errors, crawling, redirects, uptime.
• Days 8–30: Weekly: Rankings, traffic, conversions, user feedback.
• Days 31–60: Bi-weekly: Comparison with pre-launch baseline.
• Days 61–90: Monthly: ROI assessment, prioritize optimizations.

Stakeholder Relaunch Briefing

At kickoff: One-pager with current state, reasons, goals (measurable), budget, timeline, responsibilities, decision-making process.

Anti-Patterns

The "We Need Something New" Relaunch

Relaunch without concrete goals. Significant effort, no measurable progress. Solution: At least 3 measurable goals before the first wireframe.

The Tech-First Relaunch

New CMS adopted, everything else "will work itself out." New technology, same old problems. Solution: Content strategy and concept first, then technology selection.

The Forgotten SEO Migration

New URLs without redirects. Ranking loss, traffic collapse. Recovery takes months. Solution: URL mapping, 301 redirects, post-launch verification.

The Never-Ending Relaunch

Scope grows constantly, no end in sight. Solution: Fixed scope and timeline. MVP approach: core pages first, then iterative expansion.

Analysis Paralysis

Endless analysis without implementation. Solution: Limit the analysis phase to 2–4 weeks. "Good enough" is sufficient for informed decisions.

Checklist

Before the Relaunch

• Technical analysis completed
• Usability analysis conducted
• Content audit with categorization
• SEO analysis: rankings, meta data, backlinks documented
• Conversion analysis: current rates as baseline
• Competitive analysis with 3–5 competitors
• Measurable relaunch goals defined
• URL mapping for SEO migration created

During the Relaunch

• Content strategy established before design
• Wireframes approved
• 301 redirects configured and tested
• Sitemap and robots.txt updated
• Cross-browser and cross-device testing
• Performance budget met (load time under 3 sec.)

After the Relaunch

• 404 errors monitored daily (week 1)
• Redirects spot-checked
• Google Search Console checked for indexing issues
• Conversion rates compared against baseline (30 days)
• Organic traffic compared against baseline (60 days)
• Optimization measures prioritized for the next 90 days

Cross-References

• customer-journey — Journey analysis is a core component of the audit
• design-process — The relaunch follows the design process starting from the concept phase
• ai-design-workflow — AI tools can accelerate analysis and content migration
• landing-pages — Existing landing pages are part of the audit scope
• usability — Usability analysis as one of the 5 audit dimensions
• webdesign-review — Review methodology for the analysis phase