Your website is starting to feel a bit tired. Maybe the photos are old, the services have changed, or it just doesn’t look like your business anymore. The big question is whether you need a full website redesign or whether a refresh will do the job.
The answer depends less on how the site looks and more on how it’s built and what you need it to do. Here’s how to tell the difference.
What a refresh involves
A refresh keeps your existing website and improves what’s on it. The structure, platform and most of the layout stay the same. Typical refresh jobs include:
- Updating text that’s out of date, such as services, prices or team members
- Swapping old or stock photos for real ones
- Tidying up colours and fonts to match your current branding
- Fixing broken links and forms
- Adding a page or two for new services
A refresh makes sense when the foundations are sound and the problems are mostly on the surface. It’s usually quicker and cheaper, and some of it you may be able to do yourself if you’re comfortable logging in and editing pages.
What a website redesign involves
A redesign, or rebuild, starts with a clean slate. The site gets a new structure, a new design and usually a fresh build, often on a better platform. Your content might carry across, but everything around it is reconsidered.
It’s a bigger job, but sometimes it’s the more sensible one. Patching an old site again and again can end up costing more than replacing it, and you still finish with an old site.
With us, a rebuild follows the same steps as any new site. It starts with a free consultation, then you get a clear written quote before any work begins. We design and build the new site, and it only goes live once you’ve approved it. A standard build typically takes 21 business days once we have the content, and your current site stays up the whole time.
Signs a refresh will do
- The site works well on phones and loads reasonably quickly
- It’s built on a platform that’s still maintained and updated
- You can log in and make small changes yourself
- Customers can find what they need, and enquiries come through
- Your business hasn’t changed much since the site was built
If most of those are true, put your money into better content and photos first.
Signs you need a rebuild
- The site is hard to use on a phone or looks broken on smaller screens
- It’s slow, even on a good connection
- It runs on old software that can’t be safely updated, or nobody knows how it was built
- You can’t log in, or you don’t control the domain or hosting
- Your business has grown or changed direction and the site no longer fits
- Adding a simple page needs a developer every time
Ownership is a big one. If you’re not sure who controls your site, read our article on who owns your website before you decide anything.
Speed is another common reason to rebuild. JS Henderson, a North Coast builder in the Alstonville area, came to us for a faster website, and you can see that and other recent website projects on our site.
What to keep when you rebuild
A rebuild doesn’t mean throwing everything out. Some things are worth protecting:
- Pages that already bring in visitors. If a page shows up in Google searches, its address and content should be carried over or properly redirected. Google Search Console shows which pages people find you through, so check it before you change anything.
- Spam protection on forms. Make sure reCAPTCHA or similar protection is set up again on the new forms. It’s easy to lose in a rebuild.
- Your domain and email. These should keep working throughout, with no gap in emails reaching you.
- Content that works. Customer favourites, FAQs and reviews can usually move across with a tidy-up.
- Your tracking and connections. Google Analytics, Search Console and links to your Google Business Profile and social pages should all be reconnected to the new site.
- Your legal pages. Your Privacy Policy and any terms should carry over, updated if your forms or services have changed.
If you move to our managed hosting as part of the rebuild, migration from your current host is free and there’s no downtime, so customers won’t notice the switch.
Why a refresh isn’t always cheaper
A refresh sounds cheaper, and often it is. But if the site is built on a dated theme or a page builder that’s no longer supported, small changes can take far longer than they should. Sometimes the honest advice is that a website redesign costs about the same as a big round of patching, and you end up with something that lasts.
For comparison, our custom WordPress websites start from $1,595 + GST. Every site is mobile-responsive and includes on-page SEO foundations, security and an SSL certificate, and you own it outright with no lock-in contract. You’ll always get a clear written quote first, so you can weigh it up against the cost of a refresh.
If you’ve been looking after the site yourself and it’s become a chore, our article on signs it’s time to hand your website to an agency may help too. There’s no shame in it: a DIY site that got you started has done its job.
Not sure whether to refresh or rebuild?
Book a free website health check. We’ll review your site’s performance, design and SEO and tell you in plain English whether a refresh or a website redesign makes more sense. It takes about 30 minutes, with no obligation. Get in touch or call 02 6610 9202.
