Guide · 2-minute read
Website relaunch: the checklist.
A relaunch can gain a lot and lose a lot. This checklist protects what you have already built.
By Manuel Bubori, Studio BUBORILast reviewed
For businesses about to replace their website without losing what they have built.
A relaunch is the chance to make everything better. It is also the chance to lose years of built-up visibility in a single afternoon. This checklist walks through the points that experience shows get overlooked.
Before the project
Export all existing URLs from Search Console or the sitemap. This list later becomes the basis for your redirects.
Identify your most successful pages. This content gets carried over, not replaced. The most common mistake is deleting well-performing pages for design reasons.
The week before launch
Set up every redirect. Each old URL points to the matching new page. Never redirect everything to the homepage: Google treats that as an error.
Actually submit the forms. Does the message arrive? In the right inbox?
Check the legal pages. The legal notice and the privacy policy must be correct on the new website. If you switch providers or add or remove services, your privacy policy needs updating.
On launch day
Open every page, test the most important redirects, submit the new sitemap in Search Console, check the structured data. And switch off the old website only once the new one is demonstrably running.
The weeks after
Expect a dip. Rankings fluctuate for two to six weeks until search engines have processed the new structure. Keep an eye on the error reports in Search Console. Add any forgotten redirects as soon as possible.
In short
- Export all URLs beforehand
- Redirect every old URL individually, never everything to the homepage
- Submit the forms and update the legal pages
- Two to six weeks of fluctuation is normal
Frequently asked questions
The redirects. Every old URL must point to the matching new page. Otherwise the visibility you built up on Google is lost.
In the short term they almost always fluctuate, usually for two to six weeks. Lasting losses come mainly from missing redirects or deleted content.
Usually yes. It describes the specific technical set-up. If any of that changes, the old version is no longer accurate.
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agent-view
What an answer engine reads from this page
A search engine returns ten links and the human picks. A language model returns one paragraph and names two or three companies in it. That is the difference between being found and being named. This page is built for the second case.
Retrieval
read: /llms.txt · /robots.txt · JSON-LD @graph · this page
answered: The redirects. Every old URL must point to the matching new page. Otherwise the visibility you built up on Google is lost.
Allowed agents (21)
Anthropic: ClaudeBot · Claude-User · Claude-SearchBot
Perplexity: PerplexityBot · Perplexity-User
Google: Google-Extended · Googlebot
Microsoft: Bingbot
Apple: Applebot-Extended · Applebot
Meta: Meta-WebIndexer · meta-externalfetcher · meta-externalagent
Mistral AI: MistralAI-Index · MistralAI-User · MistralAI-Training
DuckDuckGo: DuckAssistBot
rule: Allow: / · source: https://www.bubori.studio/robots.txt
Entity
url: https://www.bubori.studio/en/guide/website-relaunch-checklist
inLanguage: en-GB
alternate: de-DE · https://www.bubori.studio/ratgeber/website-relaunch-checkliste
@type: Article
updated: 2026-11-01
Questions this page answers
- What matters most in a website relaunch?
- The redirects. Every old URL must point to the matching new page. Otherwise the visibility you built up on Google is lost.
- Do you lose rankings during a relaunch?
- In the short term they almost always fluctuate, usually for two to six weeks. Lasting losses come mainly from missing redirects or deleted content.
- Does the privacy policy need updating?
- Usually yes. It describes the specific technical set-up. If any of that changes, the old version is no longer accurate.
Contact
email: hello@bubori.com
address: Industriestraße 3, 78052 Villingen-Schwenningen, Baden-Württemberg
geo: 48.0916, 8.5046
Machine-readable entry points
sitemap: https://www.bubori.studio/sitemap.xml
JSON-LD: in the head of this page
Ten links leave the choice to the human. One paragraph has already made the choice. A company that does not appear in that answer is not on the list being chosen from.