Glossary: Website Redesign

Every key term from the course, in plain English. When a lesson says a word you don't know, it lives here.

The Keep List

The documented inventory of everything on your current site that works — top pages, rankings, backlinks, testimonials — with a protection plan for each. The redesign must not break anything on this list.

Content-First Design

Writing every page's final copy before design begins, so the layout serves the message instead of the message being squeezed into pre-made boxes. Words first, pixels second.

The Ranking Shield

The complete plan for protecting search traffic through a redesign: what to preserve, what to redirect, what to check before launch, and what to monitor for 30 days after.

The Three Questions

Why now, what changes in the business, how will we know. A redesign that can't answer all three in one sentence each is a wish, not a plan.

Redirect map

A spreadsheet mapping every old URL to its new destination. The single most important SEO document in a redesign — every old URL gets a row.

301 redirect

A permanent redirect from an old URL to a new one. Tells search engines the page has moved and preserves most of the page's ranking power.

404 error

Page not found — what visitors and search engines hit when a URL dies with no redirect. Every 404 is a lost visitor and a lost ranking.

Sitemap

The blueprint of the site: every page, how they're grouped, and how visitors reach each one. Built from visitor behavior, not the org chart.

Wireframe

A plain sketch of a page's structure — boxes and labels, no colors or fonts. Answers what goes on the page and in what order, before design begins.

Page brief

The four-part plan for a page: headline (8 words max), subhead, proof, and action. The contract between the words and the layout.

Title tag

The page title shown in search results and browser tabs. A top ranking factor — keep winning titles through the redesign.

Bounce rate

The percentage of visitors who leave after viewing one page. High bounce on a high-traffic page means the page makes a promise the content doesn't keep.

Conversion rate

The percentage of visitors who take the action that matters — a quote request, booking, or purchase. The number that decides whether a redesign worked.

Information architecture

How a site's content is organized and labeled — the sitemap, navigation, and page hierarchy. Good architecture means visitors find things without thinking.

Launch checklist

The ordered sequence of checks before, during, and after launch: redirects tested, titles preserved, forms working, analytics live, sitemap submitted.