Many company websites have aged: the texts are from another era, the menu is barely usable on a phone, and nobody knows exactly which pages exist. Anyone who wants to plan a website relaunch should start not with the design but with the goal: what should the website do for the business, and what has to stay, change or be created? This guide shows how SMEs prepare a relaunch in six steps, which mistakes to avoid and how to tell that the new website is ready for approval.
The goal first: what should the website do for you?
A relaunch without a goal usually ends up as a prettier version of the old website. So first write down in two or three sentences what should change. Good goals are concrete and testable, for example “enquiries should arrive through the form rather than by phone”, “opening hours and services are two taps away on a phone” or “we run the website in two languages”. Poor goals are “look more modern” or “be found more easily”, because no decision can be derived from them.
Also decide who visits the website and what these people look for, and in what order. Customers usually want to see services, contact details and location, job seekers the open positions, business partners the references. This list gives you the main navigation.
Taking stock: which pages exist today?
Before you build anything new, you need an inventory of the existing pages. Export the page list from the current system, use the sitemap or go through the navigation by hand. Pages that are not in the menu but are linked from search engines, directories or brochures matter too. A complete inventory cannot always be guaranteed; so compare the automatically found list with your own knowledge of the business.
Give every page one of four decisions:
| Decision | Meaning | Consequence for the address |
|---|---|---|
| Keep | Content is correct, only refreshed | Address stays the same |
| Merge | Several thin pages become one good page | Old addresses are redirected |
| Remove | Outdated or without use | Old address redirects to a suitable parent page |
| New | Missing today, needed | New address, no redirect needed |
- Decision
- Keep
- Meaning
- Content is correct, only refreshed
- Consequence for the address
- Address stays the same
- Decision
- Merge
- Meaning
- Several thin pages become one good page
- Consequence for the address
- Old addresses are redirected
- Decision
- Remove
- Meaning
- Outdated or without use
- Consequence for the address
- Old address redirects to a suitable parent page
- Decision
- New
- Meaning
- Missing today, needed
- Consequence for the address
- New address, no redirect needed
This inventory is the basis for everything else, including the redirects in the domain move.
Settling content and structure
Plan the page tree first, then the texts. A clear structure has at most two to three levels, and each page answers exactly one question. For every existing text, check whether it is still correct: opening hours, prices, team photos, certificates, years. Outdated information does more harm than a shorter website.
Collect the content in one place before the project starts:
- logo as an original file, brand colour and font, if you want to specify them
- images of sufficient quality with a short description (this description will later serve as alternative text)
- texts you want to rewrite or keep, with a person responsible for approval
- details for contact, location, opening hours and the legal notice
- for multilingual websites: who checks the translations?
Expect gathering the content to take longer than the technical work. It is the most frequent cause of delays.
Schedule and responsibilities
A relaunch does not need a major project plan, but it does need clear phases, each with one responsible person. A proven sequence has five phases:
| Phase | Result | Responsible |
|---|---|---|
| Goal and inventory | Goal statement, page list with decisions | Management, website owners |
| Content | Texts, images, mandatory information | Subject experts |
| Draft | New website as a draft, not yet public | Implementation |
| Review | List of corrections, sign-off | Website owners, management |
| Switch-over | Domain points to the new website | Implementation, IT |
- Phase
- Goal and inventory
- Result
- Goal statement, page list with decisions
- Responsible
- Management, website owners
- Phase
- Content
- Result
- Texts, images, mandatory information
- Responsible
- Subject experts
- Phase
- Draft
- Result
- New website as a draft, not yet public
- Responsible
- Implementation
- Phase
- Review
- Result
- List of corrections, sign-off
- Responsible
- Website owners, management
- Phase
- Switch-over
- Result
- Domain points to the new website
- Responsible
- Implementation, IT
Set dates only where you can influence them: delivery of content, review date, approval date. Avoid switch-over dates before trade fairs, promotions or holiday periods when nobody can fix problems. A proven rule: the old website stays online until the new one has been checked and approved.
Mandatory information and data protection
A relaunch is a good moment to check the legal minimum information. If you run a website where people can order, the Federal Act against Unfair Competition (UWG) requires in Art. 3, para. 1, let. s clear and complete information on identity and contact address, including the email address. Even without a shop, a complete legal notice with company name, address and contact details is good practice.
As soon as your website processes personal data, for example through a contact form or an application, visitors must be informed appropriately about the collection under Art. 19 of the Federal Act on Data Protection (DSG). An up-to-date privacy notice takes care of this. Check which forms exist, where the entries go and who reads them. This is part of content planning, not an appendix at the end.
Check, approve, switch over
Before the new website goes public, go through it with a fixed list: every page on a phone and on a screen, all links, the contact form with a test enquiry, legal notice and privacy notice, images with descriptions, opening hours, contact details. Record corrections in writing and have a responsible person sign them off.
After the switch-over, check the same list again on the public address. Also check whether the old addresses lead to the right new pages. Allow time for follow-up fixes in the first weeks; that a few things were overlooked is normal and not a sign of a failed project.
Practical example: Muster Holzwerk GmbH
Muster Holzwerk GmbH is a fictitious joinery with six employees. The current website has 28 pages, ten of which are thin single pages on types of wood and window shapes. The managing director sets the goal: “Quote requests should arrive through the form, and the website works on a phone.”
In the inventory she decides to keep 12 pages, merges the 10 thin pages into 4 new service pages, removes 6 outdated pages (old promotions and a yearly review page) and adds 3 new pages: references, team and directions. The new website therefore has 12 plus 4 plus 3, that is 19 pages. The 10 merged and the 6 removed pages need redirects: 16 old addresses that will now lead to a suitable new page. The 12 pages that were kept retain their address.
The content (texts, images, legal notice) is ready after three weeks. An office employee checks the draft on a phone and on a screen, sends a test enquiry through the form and notes four corrections. Only after his sign-off does the managing director approve the switch-over, on a quiet Tuesday morning. The next day he checks the 16 redirects one by one.
Checklist
- Goal written down in two to three sentences and confirmed by management
- Target groups and their main questions noted
- Inventory of all existing pages created, each page with a decision (keep, merge, remove, new)
- Page tree planned with at most two to three levels
- Texts, images, logo and mandatory information collected and approved
- Legal notice and privacy notice up to date
- List of old addresses with their new destination created
- Responsible people and dates set for content, review and approval
- Draft checked on phone and screen, test enquiry sent through the form
- Switch-over not scheduled for a time when nobody can react
- Pages and redirects checked again after the switch-over
How KMU | base helps
Online | base is built for exactly this sequence. Here is the route.
1. Takeover instead of starting over. You tell us your current website. Our team reads in the pages, transfers texts, images, menu and the checked redirects into a website draft and compares the result with the recorded page inventory. Open findings, for example pages not taken over or missing media, stay visible in the reconciliation report. A limited read-in cannot guarantee that every page is actually found; that is why we reconcile the inventory with you. An existing shop is taken over as well, and the articles go into Finance | base after review.
2. Draft with a target date. The order starts a target date of two working days for the draft. Responsibility is visible as a task, and each step is documented with its result. The draft is not yet public, and your current website stays online.
3. Review in the preview. You see the new website in a desktop and a phone preview and check it at your own pace. In the editor you edit the page tree, the building blocks, the menu, the media, brand colour and font, and the details for search engines for each page. One round of corrections is included in the offer.
4. Publishing is a separate step. Saving a draft makes nothing public. Only a confirmed publication releases the version. Every published version is kept unchanged; an earlier version can be published again at any time, and the current draft is preserved.
5. Switch the domain. At the agreed time your domain points to the new website; we forward old addresses with 301 redirects. The guide on moving a domain describes how this works. After that you change content yourself, by chat if you wish, as described in the guide Managing your website with AI.
What Online | base does not replace: goal, content and approval remain your task; we take over and design, but do not decide for you which details are correct. You check the legal notice and privacy notice for completeness yourself. We make no statements about how you will be found in search engines.
You will find more about the product on the Online base page. Take a look at the demo or open a test account. If you have questions, we will help you via the contact page. Current terms are under Prices.
Sources
- Federal Act against Unfair Competition (UWG, SR 241), Art. 3, para. 1, let. s, as at 1 January 2025: fedlex.admin.ch (German original), accessed on 04.11.2026.
- Federal Act on Data Protection (DSG, SR 235.1), Art. 19, as at 7 July 2025: fedlex.admin.ch (German original), accessed on 04.11.2026.
This guide does not replace legal or tax advice. Information as at 04.11.2026.