Redesigns and domain migrations can feel like open-heart surgery for your brand. Code gets refactored, layouts evolve, but the real lifeblood—your words—must keep pumping without a hitch. Solid planning website content is what ensures existing SEO equity survives and new pages launch ready to rank and convert.
Understanding the difference between Website Redesign vs Migration is also essential: a redesign typically involves UI/UX improvements and branding updates, while a migration may involve platform changes, domain switches, or major structural shifts. Both require thoughtful content planning—but with different priorities and risks.
This guide walks you through how to plan content for a new website, sharing actionable tips for startups, UX designers, and marketers who want to create content that performs from day one.
1. Define Goals, Audiences, and KPIs
Before any wireframe or sitemap, clarify why you’re rebuilding:
- Business drivers—lead gen, brand refresh, new markets?
- Audience segments—personas, pain points, journeys.
- Success metrics—organic traffic, time-on-page, conversions.
Document these in a one-pager that every designer, developer, and writer can pin to their wall. It will steer every decision that follows.
2. Audit What Exists—Keep, Improve, Cut
Redesigns often begin with swollen sites: ancient blog posts, duplicate FAQs, orphaned landing pages. Crawl the old domain with Screaming Frog or Sitebulb and tag every URL:
| Status | Action |
| Evergreen traffic driver | Keep (minor polish) |
| Outdated but salvageable | Update |
| Keyword cannibal | Merge |
| No value or links | Delete/Redirect |
This ruthless inventory underpins website content planning for startups that can’t afford dead weight.
3. Map a Future-Proof Information Architecture
Translate brand goals into a streamlined sitemap:
- Group pages by intent (awareness, consideration, decision).
- Use keyword research to label parent / child hierarchies.
- Sketch user-journey flows to ensure every click has context.
For web designers, this step is gold: fewer revision loops later, cleaner navigation now—classic content planning tips for web designers.
4. Build a Content Matrix (Topic × Funnel × Format)
Create a spreadsheet with columns for:
- Page slug & hierarchy
- Primary keyword (e.g., “planning website content”)
- Stage in funnel
- Content owner
- Status (drafting, review, approved)
This is how you bake scalability into the process—a true Scalable Website Content Strategy.
5. Craft UX-First Page Briefs
Each core page gets a one-page brief:
- H1 & meta using target keyword
- Key messages & CTAs
- Component list (hero image, testimonials, comparison table)
- Structured data requirements
- Accessibility & tone guidelines
These briefs keep designers—and copywriters—aligned, fulfilling the promise of planning web content for user experience.
6. Write (or Rewrite) with SEO & Voice in Balance
When filling those briefs:
- Lead with the user’s question; answer in first 100 words.
- Slot headings around secondary keywords.
- Use active voice, short paragraphs, multimedia embeds.
- Cross-link to parent/child topics early to preserve equity.
Remember: migration is not an excuse to keyword-stuff. Quality beats quantity in 2025.
7. Redirects & Technical Hygiene
- Map every deleted or moved URL to a 301 target.
- Generate a new XML sitemap before launch.
- Pre-test core web vitals on staging.
- Preserve canonical tags to avoid duplication.
Skip this and your rankings will nosedive—no matter how brilliant your copy.
8. Stage, Review, and User-Test
Spin up a password-protected staging site. Invite five real users (or teammates from other departments) to run scripted tasks: “Find pricing,” “Read latest blog,” “Contact support.” Note friction points and tweak copy or layout before go-live.
9. Launch & Monitor
- Lift password at low-traffic hour.
- Submit new sitemap to Google Search Console.
- Track 404s, ranking shifts, and analytics daily for two weeks.
- Hold a retro: what worked, what missed, what’s next.
Quick-Hit Checklist
- Audit & inventory every URL
- Align pages to new IA
- Draft UX-first briefs
- Write SEO-optimised copy
- Configure 301 redirects
- Validate staging performance
- Launch, monitor, iterate
Final Thoughts
Great design catches the eye; great words earn the click, keep the scroll, and trigger the conversion. Treat planning website content as the backbone of your redesign or migration, and you’ll protect your current rankings while paving the way for future growth. Start early, involve every discipline, and you’ll launch a site that users—and search engines—love.