Successfully creating the specifications for your website redesign

Awebsite redesign is not just about changing your look. It can involve thesite map, the content, SEO, the features, the technologies used, and theuser experience.

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Thewebsite redesign brief helps to precisely define these changes and serves as a reference document between the company, internal teams, and the web agency.

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The introduction should briefly present the main elements to be defined:

• the redesign objectives;
• the project scope;
• the features expected;
• the budget available;
• the timeline for completion.

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Why does a website redesign brief save you time (and money)?

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Theproject brief serves as the true roadmap for your website redesignproject. It helps formalize the company's needs and provides all stakeholders with a shared vision of the project.

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Defining the objectives and scope of the redesign

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The first step is to explain why the company wants to carry out a website redesign.

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The objectives may include:

• generating more leads or sales;
• improvebrand image;
• increase online visibility;
• improveuser experience;
• optimize conversion rate;
• modernize the design;
• meet new business needs;
• improve SEO rankings.

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It is important to distinguish between primary and secondary objectives to help the service provider make the right decisions throughout the project.

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Facilitate communication with the agency or web service provider

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Thewebsite specifications should serve as a common reference for the various people involved in the redesign.

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It may specifically involve the following teams:

• marketing;
• communications;
• SEO;
• copywriting ;
• UX/UI ;
• web development ;
• management.

This document reduces misunderstandings and allows the web agency to better assess the necessary resources.

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Control the budget, schedule, and deliverables

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A goodwebsite redesign brief must also outline the project's main constraints.

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You will need to specify the estimated budget, key deadlines, the various milestones for approval, the responsibilities of the stakeholders, and the expected deliverables.

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The 3 foundations of a successful website project brief

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This section should be the heart of the article. It details all the information the company must provide before launching its website redesign.

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Company presentation and project context

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The document should begin with a concise overview of the company so that the service provider understands its environment.

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You should specifically present:

• thecompany's business;
• its positioning;
• its products or services;
• its target audience;
• its market;
• its main competitors;
• the current role of the website;
• the reasons behind the website redesign.

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This context helps the agency understand the business challenges the future website will need to address.

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Conduct an audit of the existing website

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Before defining the future site, it is necessary to perform an audit of the existing site.

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The company must identify the pages and features it wishes to keep, modify or delete.

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The analysis can also focus on:

• the page's current site;
• the pages generating the most traffic;
• the conversion rate;
• existing content;
• userexperience issues;
• technical issues;
• SEO performance;
• outdated features.

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For every important element of the site, it can be useful to specify directly in the project specifications whether it should be kept, revised, merged or deleted, accompanied by a brief justification.

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Define objectives and performance indicators

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Objectives must be precise enough to measure results after the site goes live.

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For example, the future site may seek to improve:

For each objective, it is relevant to plan the KPIs used to measure its progress. The specifications may also detail requirements for tracking, analytics and tagging plan.

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Site architecture and content: the backbone of your website specifications

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The site structure and content must be considered from the very beginning of the project to avoid simply replicating the organization of the old site.

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Building the future site architecture

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Thespecifications must present the future website architecture.

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You will need to identify, in particular:

• the main sections;
• the subsections;
• the strategic pages;
• the commercial pages;
• the SEO pages;
• the different navigation levels;
• the main user journeys.

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A study of SEO keywords can be carried out beforehand to build an architecture consistent with the various search intents of users.

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Inventory content to keep, modify, or create

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Managing site content must also be planned for.

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The specifications document must identify the relevant content:

• text;
• images;
• videos;
• customer testimonials;
• case studies;
• downloadable documents;
• product pages ;
• service pages ;
• landing pages ;
• blog posts.

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For each piece of content, it is useful to specify whether it should be kept, optimized, rewritten, deleted or created from scratch.

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You will also need to determine who is responsible for writing, approving, and uploading the content.

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Planning for copywriting and SEO needs

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A redesign is a great opportunity to review your editorial strategy and your SEOof the site.

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The specifications can include:

• a keyword study;
• the main search intents;
• optimization of existing content;
• creation of new SEO pages;
• the internal linking;
• the title tags;
• the meta descriptions;
• the structure Hn headings;
• semantic optimization.

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Website redesign without traffic loss: the SEO aspect you can't afford to ignore

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TheSEO must be integrated from the very first stages of the project, not just after launch.

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Poor migration management can lead to a decrease in organic visibilityof the site.

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Conduct an SEO audit before the redesign

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ASEO audit beforehand helps identify which elements to preserve and what optimizations to implement.

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The analysis can focus on:

• the technical SEO;
• the ranked keywords;
• orphanedgenerating organic traffic;
• the qualitycontent;
• the internal linking;
• the backlinks;
• site architecture ;
• indexing.

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The goal is, in particular, to avoid deleting or modifying pages that already have strong visibility on Google.

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Preserve strategic URLs and prepare the redirection plan

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When a URL changes during a redesign, a 301 redirect may be necessary.

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Aredirection plan must therefore be prepared before the migration.

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For each old URL that is deleted or modified, you must define the new destination URL, specify the redirect to be applied, and verify that it works correctly after going live.

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This step helps to limit 404 errors, preserve the user experience, and reduce the risk of losing SEO traffic.

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Define technical SEO requirements

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The specifications must also include the main constraints for technical SEO.

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It may specifically outline requirements regarding:

• the loading speed;
• the responsive design;
• page indexability ;
• the HTML structure;
• the SEO tags;
• the XML sitemap;
• robots.txt file;
• the structured data;
• the internal linking;
• mobile performance.

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UX and design: what your website redesign brief should tell the agency

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The visual redesign must meet functional and commercial objectives, not just aesthetic ones.

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Define user journeys and UX requirements

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TheUX specifications must define the main user journeys that visitors should be able to complete easily on the site.

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You will need to consider:

• the navigation;
• usability;
• the conversion paths;
• the forms;
• the calls to action;
• the internal search ;
• the mobile navigation;
• readabilityof your content.

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The goal is to build a user experience seamless, allowing users to quickly access the information or actions they are looking for.

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Formalizing design expectations

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The document must also outline the main expectations regarding thevisual identity.

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It may include guidelines regarding:

• the brand guidelines;
• the logo;
• the typography;
• the graphic elements;
• iconography;
• the photography;
• the design inspiration;
• the wireframes;
• the mockups;
• the design system.

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Examples of websites you like can be provided to help the agency understand the aesthetic you are looking for.

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Essential vs. optional features: how to prioritize them in your website specifications?

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The website features must be detailed early enough so that the service provider can accurately estimate the technical complexity of the project.

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List the essential features

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Depending on the project, the new site may include:

It is useful to distinguish between essential features and optional features.

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Identify the tools and services to connect to the site

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Thetechnical specifications must also specify the external tools that the site needs to be connected to.

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This may include:

• a CRM;
• an ERP ;
• a solution for email marketing;
• a tool for marketing automation;
• a payment platform;
• a booking software;
• some analytics tools Analytics ;
• some business management solutions.

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This information is important because certain technical integrations can significantly impact the budget and timeline.

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CMS, security, GDPR: technical constraints to lock down before your website redesign

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The project must also outline the main technical constraints that the future site will need to meet.

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CMS, hosting, and infrastructure

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The document can specify expectations or constraints regarding:

• the CMS;
• hosting;
• domain name;
• existing technologies;
• staging environment;
• backups;
• maintenance;
• administrator access.

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If the choice of CMS has not yet been finalized, the service provider may also be asked to propose the solution best suited to the project.

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Performance, security, GDPR, and accessibility

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The future site must also meet several cross-functional requirements.

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In particular, you should anticipate:

• the web performance;
• the loading speed;
• the responsive design;
• the security;
• the backups;
• the GDPR compliance;
• the management of cookies;
• thedigital accessibility;
• the maintenance technical.

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These requirements must be specified in the project specifications so that they are taken into account from the design phase.

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How do you organize the schedule for a website redesign project?

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Theredesign schedule helps to anticipate the various stages of the project and the necessary approvals.

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Define the various project stages

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A website redesign project can follow these steps:

The specifications document can outline target dates or expected deadlines for each major phase.

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Define responsibilities and approvals

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For each key milestone, you will need to determine:

• the responsible;
• the contributors;
• the person responsible for approval;
• the expected deliverable;
• the target date;
• any dependencies on other tasks.

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This structure helps prevent bottlenecks caused by internal approval processes.

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What budget should you include in a website redesign brief?

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Including a redesign budget allows the service provider to propose a solution that is realistic in relation to the available resources.

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It is not strictly necessary to provide an exact figure. A budget range or estimate can be enough to better tailor the proposal.

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The budget should account for several potential items:

• thesite audit;
• la strategy;
• UX/UI;
• the web design ;
• the development ;
• la content creation ;
• la content migration ;
• the SEO;
• the tracking;
• hosting;
• la maintenance;
• post-launch support.

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It is best to avoid providing generic figures in the article that could be misleading, as the cost of a website redesign depends heavily on the scope and complexity of the project.

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Website project brief template: the ready-to-use checklist

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Before sending your document to a service provider, you can verify that it includes:

The 13 mistakes that derail a website redesign

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This section can take the form of a detailed list of the main mistakes encountered during a website redesign.

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In particular, you should avoid:

• starting directly with the web design without conducting an audit;
• defining overly vague objectives;
• automatically replicating the old site map;
• forgetting to plan for content creation;
• addressing the SEO only after the site goes live;
• forgetting the 301 redirect plan;
• delete for high-performing SEO pages without analysis;
• not defining responsibilities;
• forgetting the acceptance phase;
• underestimating the migration;
• not planning for tracking;
• not setting the budget;
• not defining a precise schedule.