Website redesigns are like marriages—not to be undertaken lightly. And as with any major undertaking, preparation makes the difference between a smooth, predictable process and a rocky, anxious one.

With that in mind, I've put together a checklist of questions to ask yourself before sending out those RFPs. Not all have to be answered before you start your redesign, but you should have at least thought about each of them before your new site is launched.

The big 3

Trust me, if you walk into any web development firm with these three issues firmly resolved (or even half-resolved), they'll kiss your feet with gratitude.

1. Purpose. Why are you redesigning the site? (Hint: "It's out of date" isn't good enough.) Do you have specific complaints from users? What would an up-to-date site look like and how would it function? What are your goals and expectations? Are there other sites out there you aspire to or want to compete with?
2. Content. Where is the content going to come from? What percentage of the old site content can be repurposed, how much needs to be thrown out, and how much needs to be developed from scratch? (Your developer will help you figure this out, but you should have a plan and/or resources for new content creation.)
3. Time. Website redesigns require a lot of time—your time. Are you prepared to cut back or delegate other duties to answer questions, review documentation, participate in meetings, and write or review content?

Before you begin:

1. Buy-in. Is there wide acceptance in your organization of the need for a redesign? Or are there factions who could sabotage or obstruct the process? Do you need more time to get buy-in? (If so, check out, "Getting Buy-In for Your Website Redesign.")
2. Team. Who needs to be on the redesign team? Or, if your team is more than five or six people, who can be cut? Does the team have the authority to make strategic, design, and budget decisions? Which team member is going to be the single point of contact for your developers?
3. Metrics. Who's coming to the site now? What pages are they looking at? Do you have access to user logs or analytics? (If not, consider installing Google's free Analytics tool on your site for a month so you've got some baseline metrics.)
4. Brand. Do you have an existing brand strategy or style guide? How does the site redesign need to dovetail with or complement your off-line marketing efforts?
5. Systems. Who's your current web host? Is the current system working? Are there other technical staff or third-party developers who need to be included in technical discussions?
6. Ownership. Who has control of the site? Will others in the organization or the public be able to upload their own content? How will that content be monitored? Do you need to provide technical or phone support to users?

During the redesign process:

1. Approvals. Who has final say over the redesign and development? Are there stakeholders not on the team who have veto power? Do you have the authority to hold higher-ups to the schedule?
2. Assets. Do you have an editable vector (EPS) or high-resolution file of your logo(s)? Photography and video—where are they going to come from? Do you have permission to use them? Do you need to include image credits? If so, who's going to be responsible for gathering permissions and credits?
3. Legal. Does your site require a disclaimer, terms of use, or a privacy policy? (Hint: If you offer advice, have a user forum, or collect personal information on the site, you need at least one, and maybe all three.)

After the site is launched:

1. Maintenance. Who's responsible for maintaining the site? Do they require training?
2. Documentation. Where's your domain name registered and what's its expiration date? Where are you hosted? On what kind of server? Who did the development and what technologies were used? If your IT staff all died in a plane crash, would you be able to keep the site going?
3. Security. Who will monitor public areas of the site and how often? Do you know what to do if your blog comments are taken over by spammers, or in the case of other malicious attacks? What processes need to be in place to ensure that your privacy policy is upheld?
4. Enhancements. Do you have a schedule and budget for future enhancements to the site? (Typically, adding functionality or features not included in the original roll-out.)

[ Kim Bieler wrote this article and she welcomes your comments. ]