If you’ve been asked to help redesign your organization’s website, or you’re the one raising the flag that it’s time, you’re not alone. Whether you’re in marketing, ops, or leadership, it’s common to feel overwhelmed when this kind of project lands on your plate.
This post is here to help you think clearly about what actually matters in a website redesign. Not just how it looks, but how it works, how it’s structured, and how your team will manage it once the dust settles. Whether you’re preparing an RFP, trying to build a realistic budget, or just figuring out where to begin, this guide walks you through the key areas worth evaluating early and how to avoid common missteps along the way.
We recently worked with a multi-practice law firm in the exact same position. Their site had grown messy after a decade of small additions, handoffs, and stopgap fixes. The content strategy was outdated, the CMS had become bloated and hard to maintain, and their service pages weren’t designed to convert. They came looking for a redesign, but what they really needed was a smarter, simpler foundation.
That kind of situation is more common than you might think, and it’s why a successful website redesign means looking beyond the visuals. If you’re in that early phase, this post will help you zoom out and start thinking about your website not just as a set of pages, but as a system. One that performs better when it’s rebuilt with clarity and intention across seven interconnected areas.
1. Information Architecture: Rebuild Around Clarity
Most sites that have been around for a while grow messy. Navigation gets overloaded. Content lives in odd places. Blog categories drift into overlap. This is normal, but it doesn’t have to carry forward.
A website redesign is the perfect time to rework the structure. That means simplifying how people find what they need, aligning your navigation to real-world user behavior, and organizing content based on priorities, not history.
What to ask:
- Can users easily find the pages that matter most?
- Is our navigation structured around how people think, or how we’ve always done it?
- Do we have categories or sections that are no longer pulling their weight?
A better structure doesn’t just serve your visitors, it also makes managing the site much easier over time.
2. Content Strategy: Curate, Prune, and Focus
Many sites have more content than they need. Some are outdated. Some are repetitive. Some simply don't reflect who you are anymore.
You don’t need to delete everything. But you do want to evaluate what’s still relevant, what supports your current goals, and what can be safely archived. This makes your message stronger and the experience cleaner for your users.
What to look for:
- Pages with low traffic or unclear purpose
- Blog posts that repeat the same message or are no longer accurate
- Content written for programs, services, or priorities that no longer exist
Think of this as curating a library. Keep what matters. Remove what distracts.
3. Brand Expression: Make Sure Your Design Still Feels Like You
Design is often the spark for a redesign, and it should be. But it’s not just about aesthetics, it’s about alignment.
Does your current site reflect how you want to be perceived? Does it feel true to who you are now, or who you want to be, not who you were five years ago? Are there ways to bring more intention into your typography, photography, color, or layout?
Most of the time, this doesn’t require a full rebrand. It just takes a thoughtful look at how your brand shows up in practice.
Quick gut check:
- Is there a gap between how you want to be perceived and how your site feels?
- Are your visuals reinforcing or diluting trust?
- Are there missed opportunities to express personality, tone, or values?
The site is your front door. Make sure it feels like you when people walk in.
4. CMS and Editor Experience: Set It Up to Be Sustainable
When we talk about CMS migration, such as moving from WordPress to Webflow, the biggest opportunity isn’t the platform itself. It’s how the content management system is structured behind the scenes.
A smart setup gives your team the tools to manage the site without relying on a developer every time. It also prevents future clutter, confusion, and “where does this go?” questions.
This is where you decide:
- What kinds of content your site will manage (services, blog posts, team members, FAQs, events)
- How those content types are related
- Which fields editors can access, and which should stay locked
If you’ve ever inherited a CMS where you have to dig through seven menus just to change a headline, you already know how much this matters.
5. Planning and Prioritization: The Work Before the Work
Planning isn’t a formality. It’s what makes the rest of the project run smoothly.
This is where the foundational decisions happen - what stays, what goes, what needs restructuring, and what the new site actually needs to do. The more clarity you get here, the easier every step becomes, from design to development to content entry.
A few planning tools we always include:
- Content audit and page inventory
- Feature and functionality wishlist
- Prioritization framework based on goals and capacity
Skipping this step often leads to projects that look great at launch but fall apart behind the scenes.
6. Technical Performance: Don’t Carry Old Problems Into a New Build
Some platforms and site builders make things look fine on the surface but the code underneath is bloated, fragile, or impossible to maintain. We see this a lot with older WordPress sites built using tools like Elementor, Divi, or WP Bakery. Even when the site "works," it can be slow, clunky, and frustrating to update.
If you’re already doing a redesign or CMS migration, this is your moment to fix that too. A leaner build means faster load times, better SEO, and an easier time keeping the site updated. A couple of options for a more modern website platform include Webflow and Framer.
What to ask your team or partner:
- Is the current site slow or hard to maintain?
- Do updates break things?
- Is it worth rebuilding parts of the site with cleaner code or a better system?
This isn’t about bells and whistles. It’s about building something future-friendly.
7. Strategy and Partnership: Look for Someone Who Thinks Holistically
Redesigning a site isn’t just a design project. It touches structure, content, brand, messaging, SEO, internal workflows, and technical systems. A strong partner will help you see how all of these pieces connect, even if you’re not tackling everything at once.
Some teams focus only on visuals. Some only on features. Some just port your old site onto a new platform with no changes. The best outcomes come from teams who help you zoom out, think clearly, and plan realistically.
What to look for in a partner:
- Do they ask strategic questions, or jump straight into visuals?
- Are they helping you simplify, or making things more complicated?
- Do they think about your team’s long-term success, not just launch?
This is the difference between a shiny refresh and a meaningful transformation.
Bonus: A Framework for Evaluating Your Current Site
Here’s a quick way to take stock across the seven areas above:
You don’t have to overhaul everything at once. But you do want to understand the full picture so you can prioritize intentionally.
Final Thought
Think of your website like a house renovation. You could just repaint the walls and swap the light fixtures or you could step back, assess the foundation, and invest in changes that make the whole space work better.
That’s what a website redesign should be. Not just a prettier version of what you already had, but a smarter, leaner, more intentional system built for where you’re headed.
At Serenity, we help clients see the full picture, then triage, prioritize, and build with clarity. If you’re starting a website overhaul and want to think it through with a steady partner, we’d be happy to connect.
