One of the important steps in starting a website redesign is to ensure it is not indexable or viewable to unauthorised public viewing, we obviously take care that this will never happen to your website redesign but the following sample conversation between website designers and website owner indicates the importance of this:
[Website Redesign Owner] The website in design is listed on Google and open to view to the public.Can you take it down immediately. This is incomplete work and NOT APPROVED by me to be public.
[Website Designer] I think you are referring to the news pages (blog) which is listed in its own directory as this isn’t in the same directory as the new website it was somehow
indexed in Google, I have no idea how as this can only happen if your new
website is listed somewhere on the Internet. I have now submitted to Google
a Removal request with Google for the blog and have created a ‘do not index
me file’ within the website. This does focus my attention onto your website again and welcome your responses to previous emails as want to get this project moving and
completed for you.
[Website Redesign Owner] I am horrified that for a second time I have asked you to remove unauthorized pages from Google. I do not understand and am not interested in the technicalities of how this happens. The fact is that the public have been viewing an incomplete site and text that horrified me – I just saw a number of pages, front page included. I need to reconsider all my options and will not be moving forward with anything until I have done so.
So the moral of the story is create the new redesigned website on a test server that is has the robots blocked or develop it on the existing website’s server but ensure that the robots block that directory where work is taking place.