Pre-redesign audit

Checklist of what to do BEFORE a new design

Audit steps — 0/8 done

Analytics: which pages get traffic and where conversions drop
User feedback and complaints — collected and clustered
SEO inventory: URLs to keep/redirect
Technical audit: speed, accessibility, responsiveness
Competitor analysis: what became the niche standard
Partial redesign first: the worst 20% of pages
Content migration plan and redirect map
Before/after metrics defined upfront

A 'looks dated' redesign without an audit usually destroys what worked: organic traffic, familiar user paths, converting elements. Rule: find out what's broken and what works first — then draw.