Setting website redesign goals that you can measure

Key takeaways

A website redesign needs one primary goal tied to revenue, such as qualified enquiries per month, plus two or three supporting goals. Each goal needs a baseline, a target and a date. 'Modern look' and 'better user experience' are not goals; they are ways of reaching one.

• 1 primary goal tied to revenue, such as qualified enquiries a month.
• 2 or 3 supporting goals: enquiry rate, mobile speed, lead quality.
• Every goal needs a baseline, a target and a review date.
• 'Look modern' is a means, never the goal.

What makes a good website redesign goal?

A good website redesign goal names a commercial outcome, a baseline, a target and a date: for example, raise qualified enquiries from 20 to 30 a month within 90 days of launch. It can be checked by anyone with access to the data, and the whole project can be judged against it.

• Signs your business needs a new website
• Website goals and KPIs for small businesses

What are good examples of redesign goals?

Pick one primary goal and support it with two or three others.

• Primary: qualified enquiries from 20 to 30 a month within 90 days.
• Enquiry rate on top service pages from 1% to 2%.
• Key templates passing Core Web Vitals on mobile at launch.
• Share of enquiries worth quoting from 50% to 70%.
• Owner can publish a case study without developer help.

• Website conversion rate benchmarks for UK businesses

Why do redesign goals fail?

Because they are vague, unmeasured or about the project rather than the business. 'Look more modern' cannot be checked. 'Increase traffic' can be met with irrelevant visitors. Goals with no baseline cannot show improvement at all.

• No baseline recorded before launch.
• Goals about appearance rather than outcomes.
• Traffic goals with no link to enquiries.
• Too many goals, so none drives decisions.

How do goals shape the project?

Every design and content decision should serve the primary goal. If the goal is qualified enquiries, the project prioritises service pages, proof, pricing guidance and the enquiry route, and treats visual polish as supporting work. Goals also give you a basis for saying no to features that do not serve them.

• A website brief template agencies can quote from

What baseline do you need?

Twelve months of data for each goal, recorded before any change. For enquiries, that means tracked form, call and WhatsApp enquiries by month. Without a year of data, seasonal swings can look like success or failure.

• Measure your website before a redesign

When are softer goals acceptable?

When the redesign is defensive, such as moving off an unsupported platform, the primary goal can be risk-based: live on supported software by a date, with no loss of rankings or enquiries. That is still measurable.

Should goals be in the supplier contract?

The goals should be in the brief and the contract should reference them, but tie payments to deliverables rather than results. A supplier controls the quality of the site; they do not control your pricing, sales follow-up or market demand, all of which affect enquiries.

What you can reasonably put in the contract are measurable deliverables that support the goals: key templates passing Core Web Vitals on mobile, tracking set up and tested for every enquiry route, redirects in place for every changed URL, and a post-launch review at 30 and 90 days.

• Put the goals in the brief.
• Contract for deliverables that support them.
• Include tracking, redirects and speed targets.
• Book 30 and 90 day reviews into the contract.

• Questions to ask a web design agency before signing

What does this look like in practice?

A pattern in UK professional services: a brief says 'modern, professional, easy to use'. Replacing it with 'qualified enquiries from 12 to 20 a month within 90 days, top five service pages passing Core Web Vitals' changes which pages get the budget and gives the partners a way to judge the result.

• See client work
• Website Design & Development for UK businesses

Redesign goals checklist

Write these down before briefing anyone.

• One primary goal tied to revenue.
• Two or three supporting goals.
• A 12-month baseline for each.
• A target and a review date for each.
• One person responsible for checking.
• Goals included in the brief and contract.

Next step

If you are planning a redesign, we will set measurable goals with you in 30 minutes using your own data.