Why redesigns usually fail
Most agency redesigns lose 20 to 50 percent of organic traffic in the first 90 days post-launch. The cause is almost always the same: URLs changed, redirects were not set up correctly, content was rewritten in ways that broke long-tail rankings, and the new site lost the schema and structure that was actually working on the old one. The old site's SEO equity, which took years to build, just evaporated.
We do not lose traffic on redesigns. Three things make the difference: a content audit before any code is written, a one-to-one URL migration plan with 301 redirects for any URL that has to change, and a launch night runbook that has been used on real client launches without traffic regression.
Our redesign process
What we do differently
Content audit first
Before any design starts, we pull every page on the existing site, every backlink pointing to those pages, every keyword the site ranks for. We identify what to preserve, what to rewrite, what to merge, what to retire.
URL migration plan
Where URLs have to change, 301 redirects mapped one-to-one. Where URLs stay the same, schema and content updates only. No bulk redirect rules that lose long-tail traffic.
Schema and SEO upgrade
The new site ships with comprehensive schema, llms.txt, atomic content structure, and full GEO/AEO setup. Whatever SEO equity the old site had, the new site multiplies.
Zero-downtime DNS cutover
Launch night runbook. DNS TTL prepped 24 hours in advance, staging site fully tested, redirects pre-loaded, monitoring in place. The site goes live with no customer-facing downtime.
30 days post-launch monitoring
We watch Google Search Console daily for 30 days after launch. Any URL that loses ranking, any 404 spike, any indexing issue, we fix it inside 24 hours, included in the redesign cost.
Full ownership at handover
Code, domain, hosting credentials. You own everything. The redesign does not lock you into our ongoing services, the monthly care plan is optional.
What this costs
Typical small business website redesign: $2,500 to $7,500 depending on page count, content complexity, and platform you are migrating from. WordPress and Wix migrations tend to be on the lower end, custom WordPress builds with extensive functionality (membership, e-commerce, custom plugins) tend to be on the higher end. Every quote is fixed-price. See full pricing.
FAQs
Will I lose my Google rankings during the migration?
Not if we do it right, and we do. We map every existing URL, set up 301 redirects for any that change, preserve schema equity, and monitor Google Search Console daily for 30 days after launch. Most clients see ranking stability or improvement within the first 60 days post-launch.
How long does a redesign take?
Typically 4 to 6 weeks for a small business marketing site. Larger migrations (50+ pages, e-commerce, member portals) can take 8 to 12 weeks. The first week is the content audit and URL mapping, weeks 2 to 4 are design and build, week 5 is QA and revisions, week 6 is launch.
Can you migrate from WordPress?
Yes. WordPress is our most common migration source. We export your posts, pages, media, and any custom post types, rebuild on a hand-coded foundation, preserve URL structure where it makes sense, and 301 redirect where it does not. The new site loads under a second on mobile and never has a plugin break it.
What about Wix or Squarespace?
Yes. Wix and Squarespace migrations are similar to WordPress, with the wrinkle that those platforms do not always export cleanly. We have done enough of them to handle the export issues. The new hand-coded site loads roughly 3 to 5 times faster than the Wix or Squarespace original.
Will my contact forms keep working during the cutover?
Yes. Forms route through the new backend before DNS cuts over, so submissions never get lost. The new forms also typically route to a real database, email, SMS, or CRM, instead of just emailing the site owner. Most template-platform forms quietly drop a percentage of submissions.
Do you preserve our domain and email?
Yes. We do not change domain registrars or email setup unless you specifically ask. The DNS cutover only changes the A record pointing to the website server. Your email continues to work through your existing provider.