Gantt Chart Template for Website Redesign
Website redesign projects fail for predictable reasons: scope creep that extends development timelines, content that isn't ready when design needs it, QA that gets compressed when earlier phases run long, and launch decisions made without a clear picture of what's actually done.
A Gantt chart addresses all of these. It forces scope definition upfront by requiring you to list every task before you start. It makes content timelines explicit -- content never prepares itself, and a chart with a "content delivery" task with a real owner and deadline is far more likely to be honored than a verbal agreement at kickoff. It protects QA from compression by making it visible that QA starts on a specific date and must complete before launch. And it gives everyone -- client, agency, freelancer, internal team -- a shared view of whether the project is on track.
This template covers a full website redesign from discovery through post-launch, with phases appropriate for a site of moderate complexity (10-50 pages, custom design, CMS-based development).
Discovery Phase: What You're Building Before You Build
The most common reason website projects go over budget is insufficient discovery. Teams underestimate how many decisions need to be made before design begins: sitemap, information architecture, content strategy, technical requirements, integration scope, SEO baseline. When these decisions get deferred into design and development, they create rework that is expensive to fix.
Budget 2-4 weeks for discovery depending on site complexity. The output of discovery should be a signed sitemap, a technical requirements document, and a content inventory showing what exists and what needs to be created.
What to Include in a Website Redesign Gantt Chart
| Phase | Task | Owner | Duration | Dependencies |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Discovery | Kickoff meeting | All | 1 day | Contract signed |
| Discovery | Stakeholder interviews | PM / Strategist | 5 days | Kickoff complete |
| Discovery | Content audit and inventory | Content Strategist | 5 days | Kickoff complete |
| Discovery | SEO baseline audit | SEO | 3 days | Site access granted |
| Discovery | Technical requirements document | Developer / PM | 5 days | Stakeholder interviews |
| Discovery | Sitemap draft | IA / PM | 3 days | Content inventory, interviews |
| Discovery | Sitemap review and approval | Client | 3 days | Sitemap drafted |
| Discovery | Content strategy document | Content Strategist | 3 days | Sitemap approved |
| Discovery | Analytics review | SEO / Analytics | 2 days | Site access |
| Design | Moodboards and style direction | Designer | 3 days | Discovery approved |
| Design | Style tile / design direction approved | Client | 3 days | Moodboards delivered |
| Design | Wireframes -- key pages | Designer | 5 days | Sitemap approved |
| Design | Wireframe review and approval | Client | 3 days | Wireframes delivered |
| Design | High-fidelity designs -- homepage + templates | Designer | 7 days | Wireframes approved |
| Design | Design review -- round 1 | Client | 3 days | High-fi designs delivered |
| Design | Design revisions | Designer | 3 days | Round 1 feedback received |
| Design | Design review -- round 2 | Client | 2 days | Revisions delivered |
| Design | Design finalization and handoff | Designer | 2 days | Round 2 approved |
| Design | Mobile responsive design | Designer | 4 days | Desktop designs approved |
| Content | Page copy -- priority pages (x10) | Copywriter | 10 days | Strategy doc, sitemap approved |
| Content | Copy review | Client | 5 days | Copy drafts delivered |
| Content | Copy revisions | Copywriter | 3 days | Client feedback received |
| Content | Final copy approval | Client | 2 days | Revisions complete |
| Content | Image sourcing and licensing | Designer / PM | 5 days | Approved (can run parallel) |
| Development | Dev environment setup | Developer | 1 day | Design handoff received |
| Development | CMS configuration | Developer | 3 days | Dev environment ready |
| Development | Template development -- homepage | Developer | 4 days | Designs received |
| Development | Template development -- interior pages | Developer | 7 days | Interior designs received |
| Development | Third-party integrations | Developer | 5 days | Technical requirements |
| Development | Forms and conversion elements | Developer | 3 days | Design complete |
| Development | Content entry | Content Ops | 7 days | Templates + copy approved |
| Development | Analytics and tracking setup | Developer / SEO | 2 days | Site functional |
| Development | SEO on-page optimization | SEO | 3 days | Content entered |
| QA | Cross-browser testing | QA / Developer | 3 days | Site content complete |
| QA | Mobile and responsive QA | QA / Developer | 2 days | Desktop QA complete |
| QA | Form and integration testing | QA / Developer | 2 days | Dev complete |
| QA | Performance testing (Core Web Vitals) | Developer | 2 days | QA near complete |
| QA | Accessibility review | QA / Designer | 2 days | Dev complete |
| QA | Client review and UAT | Client | 5 days | QA complete |
| QA | Final bug fixes | Developer | 3 days | UAT feedback received |
| Launch | Pre-launch checklist | PM + Developer | 1 day | All fixes complete |
| Launch | DNS cutover and go-live | Developer | 1 day | Pre-launch checklist signed |
| Launch | Post-launch smoke testing | QA / Developer | 1 day | Site live |
| Launch | 301 redirects audit | SEO / Developer | 2 days | Site live |
| Launch | Google Search Console submission | SEO | 1 day | Redirects complete |
| Post-launch | 30-day performance review | SEO / Analytics | 1 day | 30 days post-launch |
| Post-launch | Remaining punch list items | Developer | 3 days | Post-launch review |
How to Use This Template in gantt-chart.io
Step 1: Create a new project in gantt-chart.io. Set the start date to your contract signature date or kickoff date -- whichever marks the actual beginning of billable work.
Step 2: If there's a hard launch date (tied to an event, campaign, or business deadline), enter it as a fixed milestone first. Then build your task durations and check whether the timeline is feasible. If the end date is not enough time, this is the moment to have that conversation -- before work begins, not three weeks before launch.
Step 3: Add content tasks with clear owners. "Content delivery" owned by the client with a specific due date is the most commonly missed deadline on website projects. Make it explicit on the chart.
Step 4: Mark QA as a protected phase. QA should have a fixed start date that cannot be moved forward regardless of upstream delays. If design or development runs long, the team eats that time in those phases, not by shortening QA.
Step 5: Use the dependency chain to show the client how their review and approval windows affect the schedule. If the client takes 5 days for design review instead of 3, the chart makes the launch date impact immediate and visible.
Website Redesign-Specific Tips
Protect content timelines as if they were technical deadlines. Clients consistently underestimate how long it takes to produce new website copy. A 10-page site requires 10 pieces of polished, approved copy. If content is client-supplied, set a delivery date 2 weeks earlier than you actually need it. Late content delays development.
Stage design approvals with explicit sign-off milestones. "Design looks good" and "Design is approved and no further changes will be requested" are not the same thing. Mark design approval as a milestone requiring a written confirmation. This prevents the pattern where clients return to "approve" designs with new round-of-changes feedback.
Budget QA time by site size, not project size. A visually complex 20-page site needs more QA time than a simple 50-page site. Think about the number of templates, interactions, form flows, and integrations rather than page count when estimating QA.
Plan the redirect audit before launch, not after. If the new site has a different URL structure than the old site, every changed URL needs a 301 redirect. Auditing redirects after launch means search engine traffic to old URLs 404s for days or weeks. Add the redirect mapping as a pre-launch task.
Add a post-launch retention window. Plan for at least 2 weeks of post-launch developer availability for bug fixes and performance tweaks. Traffic behavior on the live site will surface issues that weren't caught in QA.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How long does a typical website redesign take?
A straightforward 10-20 page site redesign with a dedicated team typically runs 10-16 weeks. Complexity adds time: large content libraries, multiple integrations, e-commerce functionality, custom applications, and slow client review cycles all extend timelines. Use the task durations in this template as starting estimates, then adjust based on your specific scope.
Q: How do I handle client review delays on the Gantt chart?
Set client review periods as tasks with defined durations in the chart. If a client review takes longer than planned, extend that task and all downstream tasks shift accordingly. The chart makes the impact of late approvals on the launch date immediately visible -- which is the most effective way to encourage timely reviews.
Q: Should content creation run in parallel with design?
Partially. Content strategy and content planning can run in parallel with design. Actual copy production should run in parallel with development, not design -- because design needs to know the content structure before finalizing layouts. Content and design running fully in parallel without coordination leads to designs that don't accommodate the actual copy length and structure.
Q: What CMS tools does this template work with?
The Gantt chart is tool-agnostic. The development tasks apply whether you're building on WordPress, Webflow, Framer, Contentful, Sanity, or a custom build. Adjust the "CMS configuration" and "template development" durations based on the platform's complexity and your team's familiarity with it.
Q: How do I use this template for a smaller project, like a 5-page landing site?
Compress or remove phases that don't apply. A 5-page landing site might skip formal wireframes and go straight to high-fidelity design. Content creation might be a single task rather than a phased process. QA might be 2-3 days rather than a week. The template structure applies -- the durations scale down with the project scope.
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