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The Benchlight field guide · Free to use

A better website starts with what stays.

Your small business website redesign checklist. Keep the useful bits, spot the friction and leave with a clearer brief.

Check your websiteRead the guide

Eight checks. No sign-up. Your answers stay in this page.

A website simplified into its three useful parts: what you do, what customers need and how to contact you.What you doUseful detailsRoom to breatheA clear next step
A little less clutter. A lot more direction.
Illustration, not a customer result.

01 · Start with the job

Does it need a redesign,
or a few good fixes?

An older-looking site can still do its job. Start with what customers need: understanding your service, finding the right details and contacting you.

If those things work, correcting an old photo or opening hours may be enough. A wider refresh becomes more useful when several pages are hard to read, services are unclear or the phone journey keeps getting in the way.

Looks matter. So does keeping the content, page addresses and tools that already help your customers.

A fictional garden business

Same service.
A clearer invitation.

Clear copy says what is offered, where and what someone can do next.

Vague

“Welcome to our website. We offer quality solutions.”

More useful

“Garden care in Northfield. Lawn mowing, planting and seasonal tidy-ups.”

Next step: ask about your garden.

Explore the fictional website examples

02 · Look at your real website

Eight small checks.
One useful brief.

Open your website in another tab, and on your phone if you have it nearby. Choose the answer that fits today.

“Not sure” is useful too. It gives you a question to resolve before changing anything.

This is your own check, not an automated scan or a search-ranking score. Answers are not saved when you leave.

0 of 8 checked

Jump to your brief
01A stranger knows what you do

Cover the logo on your homepage. Can someone still tell what you offer and who it is for?

What to keep or change

Write one plain sentence naming your service and customer. Put it near the top.

If it works: Keep your clearest service description.

02Your services answer real questions

Open a service page. Does it explain what is included, who it suits and how to enquire?

What to keep or change

Add the details people ask before booking: service, area, what is included and the next step.

If it works: Keep useful service details and photos.

03The phone version is easy to use

On your phone, read the main page and open the menu without zooming. Can you reach the next step comfortably?

What to keep or change

Fix cramped text, crowded buttons and anything that needs a sideways swipe. Test again on a real phone.

If it works: Keep the parts that already work well on a phone.

04People can contact you

Tap each phone, email and enquiry link. For a form you own, send a test message and check that it arrives.

What to keep or change

Repair the contact route first. Check the receiving inbox and show a clear confirmation after sending.

If it works: Keep your working contact details and destination inbox.

05Bookings and important tools work

Follow a booking or other important task all the way through. If your site has none, choose Looks good.

What to keep or change

List the tool and what it must do. Ask the new provider to demonstrate it before you agree to switch.

If it works: Keep any working booking tools or important integrations you use.

06Your details are current

Check your opening hours, service area, prices you publish and business name. Are they still right?

What to keep or change

Correct old details wherever they appear. Ask the person who runs the service to check the final version.

If it works: Keep accurate hours, locations and published service information.

07You know which pages must survive

Make a list of pages people use or that appear in search. Can you account for them in a replacement?

What to keep or change

Save your current page addresses. Keep them where possible; map changed addresses to their replacements.

If it works: Keep important page addresses and existing useful content.

08You control your address and email

Do you know where your domain is managed, when it renews and which service handles your business email?

What to keep or change

Locate your domain and email accounts before a move. Agree which records change and test email before and after.

If it works: Keep control of your domain and business email.

03 · Take something useful away

Your website
refresh brief.

Use it yourself, or give it to whoever updates your website. You do not need to buy anything to use it.

Start with the eight checks above.

Your answers will become a short list of what to keep, what to fix and what to find out.

04 · Before going live

Change the website.
Keep the essentials.

  1. Keep a copy of your old site. Save the pages, images and important settings. Agree how you can switch back if something important fails.
  2. Keep control of your domain and email. Know which settings change. Test that your business email still sends and receives.
  3. Keep useful page addresses. If an address changes, redirect it to the relevant replacement and test the old link. Do not send every old page to the homepage.
  4. Test customer tasks on a phone. Check the menu, phone links, form delivery and bookings. Test the actual destination, not just whether a button looks right.
  5. Check search access after launch. Confirm important pages can be crawled and inspect them in Search Console. A redesign cannot guarantee rankings or more customers.

Further reading: Google’s guide to changing page addresses. For a redirect map, the free RedirectAtlas checker can find structural mistakes.

If a refresh is the right next step

See a new version
before you pay.

Benchlight checks whether your current site is a good fit. If it is, we build a free private preview. Websites start at $249 once; your exact offer comes with the preview.

Existing content and important features are checked first. Online shops, member logins and new features need separate discussion.

Ask for a free previewSee how Benchlight works