When a Website Needs a Redesign

Businesses evolve: new services, new audiences, new positioning. Websites often stay frozen in the moment they launched. At some point, the gap becomes big enough to cost the business customers.

Signs it is time

• The website no longer describes what the business actually does.
• The design looks dated next to competitors.
• It is hard to use on phones.
• Enquiries or sales are falling while traffic holds steady.
• Updating content requires a developer for every small change.
• Pages load slowly.
• The site cannot support new needs such as booking, multiple languages or e-commerce.

Refresh or full redesign?

A refresh updates visuals, content and small usability issues on the existing structure. It suits sites that work well but look tired.

A redesign rethinks structure, content, user journeys and often the platform. It suits sites that no longer fit the business.

Changing platform

Moving to a new CMS can bring flexibility and lower maintenance, but it adds risk. Evaluate the move against content volume, integrations and the team's skills.

Protect search visibility

Redesigns are a common cause of traffic loss. To prevent it:

1. Crawl the current site and record every URL.
2. Identify pages that bring traffic and links.
3. Map old URLs to new ones and set permanent redirects.
4. Keep or improve valuable content rather than deleting it.
5. Test on staging, then monitor rankings and errors closely after launch.

Plan the project properly

Set goals, audit content and analytics, involve key stakeholders early and plan content creation in parallel with design.

Redesign with oceanone

Our web design team handles redesigns and migrations white-label, with SEO safeguards built in.