Traffic and rankings
A page-level export from Search Console and a rank sample from a Dorset location, so the baseline is recorded.
Redesign
A redesign should not cost you the traffic you already have
Most redesigns lose rankings because they change URLs, drop content and forget the redirects. We treat the existing site as an asset to be migrated, not a mistake to be erased.
There are two reasons to redesign: the site no longer reflects the business, or it no longer performs. Those need different answers. A visual refresh fixes the first and often makes the second worse, because a new theme usually adds weight and changes URLs without a plan.
We start with an audit of what the current site earns: which pages have traffic, which have links, which convert and which are dead weight. The new build keeps the URLs that matter, redirects the ones that change, preserves the content that ranks and removes the rest deliberately. Then we measure the result against the baseline.
The migration
What we check before anything changes
Backlinks
Which URLs have earned links, and which need to keep their address or redirect to the closest equivalent.
Conversions
The forms, phone numbers and calls to action that currently produce enquiries, so none of them disappear.
Technical debt
Redirect chains, duplicate content, missing canonicals, broken internal links and a sitemap that tells the truth.
Content inventory
Keep, merge, rewrite or remove — decided page by page, not by default.
The redirect map
A one-to-one map from every old URL to its new home, tested before launch and monitored for 404s afterwards.
Refresh or rebuild
Which one do you need?
| Symptom | Usually enough | Likely a rebuild |
|---|---|---|
| Looks dated | A visual refresh | — |
| Slow on mobile | Speed work and image cleanup | If the platform cannot shed weight |
| Hard to update | A CMS or content cleanup | If the builder is the constraint |
| Not ranking for services | New pages and internal links | If the architecture cannot support them |
| Lost traffic after a previous redesign | Redirect repair and content recovery | If the URLs and content are gone |
| Security or plugin maintenance burden | Managed hosting and patching | If the stack is the risk |
Do not skip the baseline
Do not skip the baseline
- Website speedMeasure before and after, on the same device profile.
- PricingA redesign is usually a Tier 3 or Tier 4 project.
- Talk to usSend the URL and we will tell you whether a refresh is enough.
Questions
The things people ask first
Will we lose our Google rankings?
Not if the migration is done properly. Rankings can dip for a few weeks while the new pages are crawled. The risks are changed URLs without redirects, removed content and a slower site — all of which are avoidable.
Can you keep the current design?
If the design is not the problem, yes. A rebuild can preserve the visual identity and replace the platform underneath. That is often the cheapest route.
How long does a redesign take?
Four to eight weeks for a typical five-to-ten-page site, including the audit, content migration and redirect testing. Larger sites take longer.
Do you need access to our analytics?
Read-only access to Search Console and analytics is ideal. If there is no analytics, we will set up a baseline before launch so the comparison is possible.
Related
Let’s find out whether technology is the answer
Tell us what you are trying to achieve. We will tell you honestly whether we can help, what it would take, and roughly what it would cost — before anyone signs anything.