What to measure before and after a website launch

A new website goes live, everyone agrees it looks better, and a month later someone asks whether it is actually working. Too often nobody can answer, because nobody recorded where things stood before the switch. A few measurements taken in advance make the difference between an opinion and a result.

Before launch: record the baseline

• Organic traffic and top pages. Export the last three to six months from Google Analytics and Search Console, including which pages bring in the most visits.
• Rankings for key searches. Note where you appear for the terms that matter to your business, so any movement is visible.
• Conversion rates. Enquiries, sign-ups or sales per visit — the number the redesign is ultimately meant to improve.
• Speed on real devices. Core Web Vitals for your most important templates, especially on mobile.

Launch day: protect what you have

Map every old URL that receives traffic or links to its new equivalent with a permanent redirect, submit the new sitemap and check that analytics is recording visits. These steps take hours and protect years of accumulated search visibility.

After launch: compare like with like

Expect some movement in the first few weeks while search engines recrawl the site. Compare the same periods — ideally the same weeks year on year — and look at trends rather than single days. If a page drops, check its redirect and its content before anything else.

Measuring well is part of every web design project we run, and it is the starting point for ongoing organic SEO. A launch should be the beginning of the climb, not the end of it.