Redesign or new website: how to decide

“My site is old, it all needs redoing.” That’s how most of the calls we get begin. Sometimes it’s true. Often, what’s blocking the requests comes down to three or four specific things, and they can be fixed without starting from scratch. Three questions settle it.

1. Does the foundation hold?

Does the site display properly on a phone, load in under three seconds, and can you edit it yourself without calling someone? If the answer is yes to all three, the foundation is sound. If it’s no to two of them, a partial redesign will cost more than a new site, because you’ll spend your time working around the limits.

2. Is it the container or the content?

A site can be technically fine and generate nothing because its copy is vague, its photos are dated and its phone number is buried in the Contact page. In that case, redoing the design changes nothing: it’s the content that needs reworking. Conversely, good copy on a slow site that’s unreadable on mobile deserves a new container.

• Content to rework: copy, photos, call to action, service pages.
• Container to rework: speed, mobile display, editing tool, security.
• Both: that’s when a new site is the answer.

3. What does Google think?

If your current site already shows up for local searches, it has value you shouldn’t lose. A poorly prepared new site can wipe out those positions within weeks. A redesign, or a new site with a rigorous redirect plan, preserves what you’ve earned.

A site that already brings you calls doesn’t get thrown out. It gets fixed.

How we decide

Before proposing anything, we look at the existing site with you: what works, what blocks, what Google does with it. Sometimes we recommend touching only three pages. Sometimes we recommend starting over. Either way, you know why.