<p>Last year we redesigned our own site and lost things we didn't know we had. Not the pages — the stuff around the pages. We want to save you the same week of regret, so here's the backup checklist we wish someone had handed us.</p><p><strong>1. Old copy that wasn't "wrong."</strong> We deleted a page that said something specific and true about our process. Six months later a prospect asked about exactly that. We'd rewritten it into something vague during the redesign. Lesson: archive every page, even the ones you're sure you hate.</p><p><strong>2. The blog slugs.</strong> We kept the articles but changed the URL structure. Every old link on the internet — directories, guest posts, that one forum thread — broke overnight. We rebuilt redirects from memory and we're still finding dead links a year later.</p><p><strong>3. Contact form messages.</strong> The form didn't send anywhere during the three days we moved the backend. Three days of inquiries, gone. We only noticed because a customer mentioned emailing us "twice." If you're touching anything near the form, download every message first.</p><p><strong>4. Analytics goals and filters.</strong> We copied the tracking code but not the configuration. The new site started counting pageviews fine and measuring absolutely nothing else. We didn't notice for two weeks.</p><p><strong>5. Screenshots of the old site.</strong> Sounds sentimental. It's not. When something looks wrong in the new design, you need to compare against what visitors actually saw before. A full-page screenshot archive of the old site settled more arguments than any meeting.</p><p>Redesigns fail in the details nobody wrote down. An hour of exporting today saves a week of archaeology later. Do it before you touch a single line of code.</p>