04 Website redesign services
Website redesign services that keep what already works
An existing website carries more than its design: years of URLs that other sites link to, pages that rank, analytics history, forms wired into sales, content people still need. A redesign that ignores them starts from zero. We redesign corporate and B2B websites with a full inventory of what exists and a mapped decision for every URL before anything is switched off.
- Content and URL inventory before design starts
- A redirect map reviewed with you, validated before and after launch
- Analytics, forms and integrations carried over and tested
| Current URL | Decision | New URL | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| /about-us/ | Kept | /about-us/ | Strong links; URL unchanged. |
| /services/consulting.php | 301 redirect | /services/advisory/ | New URL pattern; same intent. |
| /solutions/retail/ | Merged (301) | /industries/retail/ | Duplicate of an industry page. |
| /solutions/retail-2019/ | Merged (301) | /industries/retail/ | Outdated variant of the same topic. |
| /news/2016/office-move/ | Retired (410) | - | No traffic, no links, no value. |
- Kept - URL unchanged
- 301 - permanent redirect
- Merged - redirected to the page that now owns the topic
- Retired - 410, no value to keep
01 Options
Refresh, redesign or rebuild?
Not every website that looks dated needs to be rebuilt. The first decision is how much should change - and it is made from evidence, not taste.
| Option | What changes | Fits when | Main risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Refresh | Visual design and templates; structure and CMS stay | Structure works, the site just looks dated | Underlying problems stay hidden under a new look |
| Redesign | Structure, content, design and templates; CMS may stay | Audiences, offers or messaging have changed | URL and content changes put rankings at risk |
| Rebuild | Everything, including platform and integrations | The CMS or codebase blocks the team or is unsupported | Largest migration: content, URLs, data, integrations |
How often should a company redesign its website? There is no fixed cycle. Companies typically redesign when the business has changed - new offers, markets, positioning or audiences - when the team cannot publish what it needs, or when the platform becomes a security or maintenance risk. A dated look alone is a reason for a refresh, not a full redesign.
02 Assessment
What we assess before anything is designed
- A1
Content inventory
Every page, document and media file, with traffic, links, owner and a keep / merge / rewrite / retire decision.
- A2
URLs and search visibility
Indexed URLs, ranking queries, pages with external links, and existing redirects that must be preserved.
- A3
Analytics and tracking
Which events, goals and tags exist, which are relied on in reporting, and how continuity will be kept.
- A4
Forms and integrations
Every form, where its data goes, and every system the site exchanges data with.
- A5
CMS and codebase
Platform version, plugins or modules, custom code, hosting - and whether they can stay.
- A6
Accessibility and performance
A baseline of current issues and Core Web Vitals, so improvements are measured, not asserted.
03 Risk control
Where redesigns lose value - and the control for each
Most damage from a redesign is avoidable. Each risk below has a specific control that is part of the plan from the first week.
| Where value is lost | What it costs | Control |
|---|---|---|
| Rankings | Pages that earned search traffic disappear or change URL without a redirect. | URL inventory with ranking data; one-to-one redirects for every page that has value. |
| External links | Links from partners, press and directories point to 404 pages. | Backlink export mapped into the redirect plan; checked after launch. |
| Content | Useful pages are dropped because nobody knew they existed. | Inventory with owners; nothing retired without a recorded decision. |
| Analytics history | Reports break and before/after comparison becomes impossible. | Tracking plan maps old events to new; parallel tracking checked in staging. |
| Lead flow | Forms stop reaching the CRM or lose source data. | End-to-end form tests in staging and on launch day. |
| Launch day | DNS, caching or redirect errors take the site down or loop. | Launch checklist, rollback plan and monitoring for the first weeks. |
04 Migration
An SEO-preserving migration method
Search visibility survives a redesign when every valuable URL is accounted for, the new site is validated before launch, and errors are caught in the weeks after.
- InventoryCrawl, analytics and backlink data for every URL.
- MapDecision per URL; redirect map reviewed with you.
- Staging validationRedirects, metadata, canonicals and noindex rules tested.
- LaunchRedirects live with the new site; sitemap submitted.
- Monitor404s, crawl errors and rankings watched for several weeks.
05 Process
The website redesign process
Six phases, each with deliverables and a gate. Timings are typical ranges for a corporate or B2B site; your assessment sets the real plan.
- Phase 012–3 weeks
Assessment
Inventory of content, URLs, tracking, forms, integrations and platform.
Deliverables
- Content and URL inventory
- Baseline report
- Refresh / redesign / rebuild recommendation
Gate Scope and option agreed with evidence.
- Phase 022–4 weeks
Architecture and mapping
New structure, templates and content model; first version of the redirect map.
Deliverables
- New sitemap
- Content model
- Draft redirect map
Gate Every existing URL has a decision.
- Phase 033–6 weeks
Design
Design system and templates, starting from what users and the team need to keep.
Deliverables
- Design system
- Template designs
Gate Templates approved at desktop and mobile widths.
- Phase 044–10 weeks
Build and migration
Build, content migration and rewriting, integrations and tracking in staging.
Deliverables
- Staging site
- Migrated content
- Final redirect map
Gate Content complete; forms and tracking verified.
- Phase 051–2 weeks
Validation and launch
Redirect, accessibility, performance and content checks; launch with rollback plan.
Deliverables
- Validation record
- Launch checklist
Gate Acceptance criteria met; owner approves launch.
- Phase 064–8 weeks
Post-launch monitoring
Crawl errors, 404s, rankings, analytics and lead flow compared with the baseline.
Deliverables
- Monitoring log
- Post-launch review
Gate Issues closed; review delivered.
06 Checklist
A website redesign checklist
The checks we run on every redesign - useful whoever does the work.
Before you start
- Write down why you are redesigning and how you will judge success.
- Export analytics for the last 12 months and save the key reports.
- Crawl the current site and list every indexed URL.
- Export the pages with external links and the queries you rank for.
- List every form, where its data goes and who relies on it.
- Name an owner for each section of content.
During the project
- Decide keep, merge, rewrite or retire for every page.
- Map every old URL that has value to a new URL with a 301.
- Keep URLs unchanged where there is no reason to change them.
- Rebuild tracking from a written plan, not from memory.
- Test every form end to end into the CRM in staging.
- Check accessibility and Core Web Vitals on staging, not after launch.
At launch
- Deploy redirects together with the new site, not after.
- Remove staging noindex rules and password protection.
- Submit the new XML sitemap in search console.
- Test the top 50 old URLs by hand.
- Confirm analytics and consent are recording.
- Keep the old site archived and accessible to the team.
After launch
- Watch 404s and crawl errors daily for the first two weeks.
- Fix redirect gaps as they appear.
- Compare rankings and organic traffic with the baseline.
- Check that leads arrive with source data.
- Review content owners’ first edits in the new CMS.
- Hold a post-launch review after four to eight weeks.
07 Cost
What drives website redesign cost
We quote a fixed price for a defined scope after an assessment or a brief. These are the factors that move it.
| Factor | Lower effort | Higher effort |
|---|---|---|
| Option | Refresh of design and templates | Full rebuild on a new platform |
| Size of the existing site | Tens of pages | Hundreds or thousands of URLs and documents |
| Content work | Mostly kept as is | Restructured, rewritten or consolidated |
| Migration method | Clean export from a mainstream CMS | Manual migration or messy legacy data |
| Search exposure | Little organic traffic to protect | Large ranking footprint and many backlinks |
| Integrations | Forms to one system | CRM, ATS, search, portals, single sign-on |
08 WordPress
Redesigning a WordPress website
Many corporate redesigns start on WordPress. Sometimes it should stay: the platform is sound and the problem is the theme, plugin sprawl or the way content was modelled. We then rebuild on WordPress with custom blocks, a short plugin list and a cleaner content model.
Sometimes it should go - usually when content needs to feed several sites or channels, or when the install has become a security or maintenance burden. The decision is recorded with its reasons either way.
09 Before and after
What changes in a redesign
Redesign examples are usually shown as screenshots. The changes that matter are structural - this is the typical shift.
- Navigation mirrors departments
- Three pages answer the same question
- Forms land in a shared inbox
- Every change needs a developer
- Tracking nobody trusts
- Navigation follows audience tasks
- One page owns each topic; others redirect to it
- Forms create CRM records with source
- Editors publish within templates
- A written tracking plan with named events
Planning a new site rather than replacing one? See corporate website development. For a B2B site with buying groups and CRM handoff, read B2B website design; for firms selling expertise, professional services website design. A single product or campaign page is covered by landing page development.
10 Questions
Website redesign - questions
How much does a website redesign cost?
It depends on whether you need a refresh, a redesign or a full rebuild, on the size of the existing site, on how much content changes, on the migration method and on the integrations involved. We give a fixed price for a defined scope after an assessment or a brief, and show which factors drive it.
How long does a website redesign take?
A redesign of a corporate or B2B site typically takes three to six months including assessment, plus several weeks of post-launch monitoring. Large sites with many URLs, languages or integrations take longer; a visual refresh can be much shorter.
How often should a company redesign its website?
When the business has changed - offers, markets, audiences, positioning - or when the site stops the team from publishing what it needs, rather than on a fixed schedule. A dated look alone usually calls for a refresh of design and templates, not a full redesign.
Will we lose our Google rankings after a redesign?
Rankings can drop when URLs change without redirects, content is removed, or technical rules such as canonicals and noindex are wrong at launch. We control those risks with a URL inventory, a reviewed redirect map, staging validation and post-launch monitoring. No one can guarantee rankings, but these steps remove the avoidable causes of loss.
Can we keep our current CMS?
Often, yes. If the platform is sound and supported, a redesign can rebuild templates and content structure on it. If it blocks the team or creates security and maintenance risk, we recommend moving and explain why in a decision record.
Can AI redesign our existing website?
AI tools can produce layouts and draft copy quickly, and we use AI assistance in our own engineering. What they do not do is decide what happens to each existing URL, preserve tracking, connect forms to your CRM or take responsibility for launch. Those decisions stay with people.
Do you have website redesign case studies?
We publish client work only with the client’s approval, and none is published on these pages yet. What we can show is the method: the inventory, the redirect map, the checks and the acceptance criteria. We are happy to walk through them on a call.
Next step
Tell us about the site you want to replace
The current URL, what is not working, what must not break, and when you need the new site. We will start from what already exists.
Send a redesign briefA senior lead reads it
Comtau engagements are led by senior people, and the brief goes to them rather than to a sales queue.
Specific questions
Questions about scope, content and platform in writing, or a short call if that is faster for you.
A proposal, or a straight answer
Phases, deliverables, acceptance criteria and price. If Comtau is not the right fit, we say so.