Manufacturing website redesign: an audit and launch checklist

Manufacturing website redesign starts with an audit of existing pages, customer journeys and links that must survive the rebuild. Establish which content supports requests for quotation (RFQs), which information is outdated and which changes require a migration plan.

Before replacing the existing site, identify the problems you want to solve. “It looks old” is a starting observation. “Buyers cannot find our machining limits” or “product enquiries arrive without a reference” gives the project a specific job.

Separate visual problems from information problems

Review representative journeys with sales, technical staff and someone unfamiliar with the website. Can they identify your main capabilities, understand the offer and find the right contact route? Record where the answer is missing and where it exists but is difficult to find.

A hypothetical manufacturer might have good capability pages hidden under an unclear menu. Another might have attractive pages that never explain supported materials or production requirements. The first needs a better route through existing information; the second needs content work as well as design.

Our industrial website planning guide provides a framework for defining those buyer questions before drawing new screens.

Build an inventory of pages and assets

List the public pages, downloads and important images before deciding what to remove. Include technical PDFs linked from quotations, brochures or customer bookmarks. Record the purpose, owner and proposed treatment of each item.

Use available evidence such as search performance, relevant visits, customer questions and sales feedback. A page with modest traffic may still support a valuable, specialised buying decision. Avoid using one metric as the only reason to delete it.

Content type	Review question	Possible decision
Capability page	Does it describe an active service accurately?	Keep, clarify or combine with a relevant page
Product family	Can buyers distinguish current options?	Retain the useful structure and correct gaps
Technical download	Is this the approved current version?	Keep, replace or retire with an explicit plan
Old campaign page	Does it still answer a valid customer need?	Update, map to a relevant successor or remove

Treat the inventory as a working decision sheet. Give each unresolved item an owner rather than leaving it to the developer to guess.

Plan URL changes before rebuilding navigation

Keeping a useful existing URL can avoid an unnecessary move. Where a page must change address, record the old URL, its relevant destination and the required redirect. Include downloads as well as normal pages.

Google’s site migration guidance recommends permanent server-side redirects, such as 301 or 308, for moved URLs. Redirect directly to the intended destination, update internal links and avoid sending unrelated old pages to the homepage. Keep redirects for at least a year where possible, and expect that search visibility may fluctuate during a move.

For a hypothetical fabrication business, an old welding-service page might map to a newly expanded welding page. It should not automatically lead to a general contact screen simply because that screen exists. The destination must still help the person who followed the original link.

Agree what changes now and what can wait

Define the essential release around the problems found in the audit. A redesign may need a clearer capability structure, better mobile pages and a reliable enquiry route before it needs a large resource library or a complex configurator.

If the range is difficult to maintain, resolve the catalogue’s product and attribute structure before importing records into new templates. Otherwise, the same inconsistencies will appear in a newer layout.

Decide who supplies copy, approves technical statements and confirms the final pages. Keep a short list of acceptance criteria that everyone can inspect, such as finding a material specification on a phone or sending an enquiry with the correct product reference.

Rebuild the enquiry journey carefully

Identify which product, service or project details should travel with each request. Make the selected context visible in the form and in the information received by the sales team. Preserve useful customer-facing choices from the current process unless there is a clear reason to change them.

Agree form delivery and responsibility separately from its appearance. Who receives enquiries, how are failed deliveries detected, and who follows up? A success message should represent a confirmed outcome, not merely a button click. Use authorised test submissions during acceptance and avoid real confidential drawings in routine testing.

Test the site against the agreed decisions

Review actual content, including awkward records and long technical names. A demonstration page with perfect text is not enough to validate a working range.

Before launch, check:

• Important old links reach the correct page or a deliberate removal response.
• Product references, specifications and downloads match approved source material.
• Navigation and specification tables remain usable on phones.
• Keyboard users can reach controls and identify the current focus.
• Form validation, delivery and confirmation match the agreed workflow.
• Page titles, descriptions and links reflect the final content.
• The intended public pages are eligible for indexing when launch is approved.

Keep a recoverable copy of the previous release and define who can respond to launch problems. Confirm the new site works on its actual public address, not only in a development preview.

Review outcomes after launch

Check important entry pages, unexpected missing-page errors and enquiry delivery soon after release. Compare like-for-like periods where possible, accounting for seasonal demand and changes in campaigns. Ask sales whether requests contain useful information and whether customers still encounter repeated confusion.

Common redesign questions

Do we need to replace every page?

No. Keep accurate, useful content and improve its presentation or navigation where needed. Replace content when it is outdated, unclear or no longer supports the business’s offer.

Will changing the design damage search visibility?

The outcome depends on what changes and how the release is handled. Missing content, broken URLs and unintended indexing restrictions create avoidable risks. Careful preparation reduces those risks but cannot guarantee unchanged rankings.

Can the old website stay live during development?

Yes. Build and review the replacement separately, then agree the release and rollback process. Keep the preview from being mistaken for the public site, and reconcile any content updates made during the build.