Start with an inventory, not a new design
When a small website is due for a redesign, it is tempting to begin with the homepage. First, find out what the current site contains. Pages that are missing from the plan can be easy to overlook until someone needs their information or follows an old link.
Make a simple spreadsheet with one row per public page. Record its current URL, page title, purpose, intended audience, and the person who can check its accuracy. Add a column for notes and another for your eventual decision. If the site has downloadable files or important forms, list those too; they may need a place in the new site even though they are not conventional pages.
Keep the first pass quick. You are trying to build a working list, not write a detailed critique of every sentence. If several people maintain the site, ask them to flag pages you might miss, such as seasonal information or pages reached mainly from emails rather than navigation.
Assess each page against a clear purpose
For each page, ask what a visitor comes to do and whether the page helps them do it. A service page might need to explain who the service is for and how to enquire. A policy page might need to give people a dependable answer they can find without contacting the team. A page without a clear purpose deserves a closer look, but it is not automatically disposable.
Check whether the information is accurate, complete, and understandable. Note outdated names, broken references, unclear next steps, and content repeated elsewhere. Also consider whether headings describe the content, links make sense out of context, and essential information is presented in text rather than only in an image or file. These observations give you specific work to plan instead of a vague instruction to “improve the content.”
Use whatever feedback you already have with care. Repeated questions from visitors may reveal missing explanations; a low-traffic page may still serve a small audience with an important need. Neither observation should decide a page’s fate on its own.
Choose what to keep, revise, combine, or retire
Give each item a practical decision. Keep a page if it remains useful and needs little change. Revise it if its purpose is sound but the wording, structure, or details need attention. Combine pages when they answer closely related questions and visitors would benefit from one clearer destination. Retire a page when its information is no longer needed and no longer belongs anywhere else.
Write a short reason beside each decision. “Combine with the main volunteering page because both explain the same application steps” is more useful than “merge.” A reason helps the team revisit a choice when new information appears, without having to repeat the whole discussion.
Do not treat retirement as simply deleting a page. Check whether it has a suitable replacement, whether people might have saved its URL, and whether other pages link to it. Where your platform permits, plan a redirect to the closest relevant destination when a URL changes. Avoid sending every removed page to the homepage: someone following a specific link needs a useful answer, not just a fresh starting point.
Turn decisions into a manageable work plan
Once you know the likely shape of the new site, assign an owner and a next action to every item that needs work. One person may verify facts while another rewrites the page; make both responsibilities explicit. For combined pages, identify which existing information must survive and which repetition can go. For retired pages, list any navigation links, cross-references, or files that also need attention.
Separate decisions from completion. A page marked “revise” is not ready to publish merely because the team agrees it should stay. Add a simple status such as awaiting review, being edited, approved, or ready to build. This makes it easier to see where work is stalled without creating an elaborate project-management system.
Prioritize pages people rely on to complete core tasks, especially those containing contact details, eligibility information, instructions, or forms. If time is short, a clear and accurate version of an essential page is generally a better launch goal than polishing less consequential pages first.
Check the map before content moves
Before building the new pages, compare your audit with the proposed site structure. Every item marked keep, revise, or combine should have an intended destination. Every item marked retire should have an agreed treatment. This check can reveal gaps, such as a useful answer that no longer has an obvious home.
After content has moved, use the inventory as a checking list. Open the new pages, confirm that key information survived, and test links and forms affected by the changes. Keep a copy of the decisions so future editors know why pages were combined or removed. A modest audit is not meant to preserve the old site unchanged; it helps you change it deliberately.
