Website redesign: when to rebuild, what it costs, and how to keep your Google rankings
How to tell when a website needs replacing, what a redesign costs with us, and how to change your site without losing the Google rankings it has earned.
A website redesign is worth paying for when the site itself holds your business back, not only when it looks dated. With us, rebuilding a site that isn’t worth saving starts at R15,000 incl. VAT, and a redesign that adds one of an online store, bookings, a membership or courses starts at R25,000. To keep your Google rankings, keep the content of the pages that bring in visitors, and send every address that changes to its new page with a permanent redirect.
This guide is for the owner planning a small business website redesign. The prices are the ones we publish, and the examples are our own clients.
What is a website redesign?
A website redesign replaces how a site looks and how its pages are organised, and often the technology underneath. It goes further than a refresh, which updates the words and pictures on the same site, and differs from a move, which changes the host, the platform or the domain. It can include a rebuild, a move, or both.
The words get used loosely, so agree which job you are buying before anyone starts.
| Job | What changes | Usually the right job when |
|---|---|---|
| Refresh, or revamp | The words, the images and some of the styling, on the same site | The site works well but reads or looks out of date |
| Redesign | The look, the layout and often how the pages are organised | The site works, but no longer fits the business or the way customers use it |
| Rebuild | A new site from a clean install, with the content brought across | The build can’t be kept up to date or safe, or can’t do what the business needs |
| Move | The host, the platform or the domain name | You need a different host, platform or address |
A rebuild or a move can change your page addresses; protecting your rankings when they do is covered below.
A move on its own can be the whole job. Big City Life, a photographer’s site, came to us very slow: we reduced the whole site from roughly 85GB to about 4.5GB, moved it onto our hosting and added security.
When should you redesign your website?
Redesign when the problem is the site, not only its content: it can’t be updated safely, it’s hard to use on a phone, it can’t do what your business now needs, it has been hacked, or it still describes the business you used to be. If it works well and only looks tired, a refresh may be enough.
It can’t be updated safely any more
A site is due for a rebuild when it can’t be kept current: updates break it, a plugin it depends on is no longer maintained, or its code is too old to fix. The platform we originally built for GiftBucks, a client since 2003, reached that point. Its code base had aged until it could no longer be maintained, so we rebuilt it as a custom WordPress plugin with current security.
It’s hard to use on a phone
Google’s mobile-first indexing guidance says Google uses the mobile version of a site’s content for indexing and ranking. If your site is awkward on a phone, that is the version Google judges. The same page recommends responsive design, where one set of pages adapts to each screen size, as the easiest pattern to build and maintain. Every site we build is responsive and works on phones, and a display problem on a phone is fixed free.
It can’t do what your business needs now
You want the site to take bookings, sell online, run a members’ area or host courses, and the current build can’t do it well. A rebuild can add the new work at the same time. Our 2025 rebuild for Financial Crime Risk Management Consultants, a client since 2009, added a learning platform and a custom plugin that uses AI to match their clients and suppliers.
It has been hacked, or nobody looks after it
After a hack, the choice is a clean-up or, when the build isn’t worth saving, a rebuild. Xscape4u was referred to us after a compromise: links to offshore casino sites were being injected into its site. We rebuilt the entire platform, extracted the data, left the hacked content out and delivered the site clean, with encryption and Wordfence. Both are our website rescue service. If it’s happening to you now, start with what to do in the first 24 hours after a hack. If the person who built your site has vanished, read taking over a website when your developer has disappeared.
It no longer fits the business
Your services, your prices or even your name have changed, and the site still describes the business you used to be. New words and pictures may be enough. It becomes a redesign when the structure has to change too: new kinds of page, or a different route to the call, booking or sale you want.
How much does it cost to redesign a website?
With us, rebuilding a site that isn’t worth saving starts at R15,000 incl. VAT, quoted after a R2,220 assessment that is credited against the rebuild. A redesign that adds one of an online store, bookings, a membership or courses starts at R25,000, and custom systems start at R65,000. Changes to a site you keep are quoted per task before we start.
What sets the price is what the new site has to do:
- A site that isn’t worth saving. From R15,000: a clean install, rebuilt better, with your content brought across.
- A new custom-designed site of up to eight pages. Our Business package, R15,000, typically ready in two weeks. Moving your existing site’s content across isn’t part of it, so we quote that separately.
- A site with a store, bookings, a membership or courses. Our Professional package, from R25,000, typically ready in four weeks: up to 20 pages, one of those four, a staging copy to test on, and migration from your existing site.
- A system your business runs on. Custom plugins, integrations and moving an old system across start at R65,000, quoted after a free first discovery, with detailed scoping included in the build price.
- Changes to a site you keep. Quoted per task before we start, or up to two hours of changes a month on our full care plan, R2,450 a month.
Copywriting isn’t included in Business or Professional: you supply the words, with a structured content brief and one editing pass from us at no charge, or we write them at R975 a page incl. VAT. All our prices are in South African rand and include VAT, and payment is a 50% deposit with the balance on go-live. Everything each package includes is on our website pricing page.
What a website redesign costs in South Africa breaks these prices down further, and how much a website costs in South Africa covers new builds and the running costs after launch.
How do you keep your Google rankings through a redesign?
Keep the pages that bring you visitors, with their content, and keep their addresses where you can. Where an address must change, redirect it permanently to its new page, let pages you drop return a not-found error, and watch Search Console for the weeks after launch. Change as little else at once as you can.
List the pages that earn their keep
Before anything changes, find the pages that bring in visitors and the ones other sites link to. Google’s guide to moving a site says to start with your important pages: those in your sitemap, those your analytics show get the most traffic, and those with links in Search Console. It adds that images and downloads, such as PDFs, might already be getting traffic from Google or from links, so move them too.
Keep each address, or redirect it
A page that keeps its address needs no redirect. For every address that changes, the same guide recommends a permanent redirect on the server from the old address to the new one, and tells owners not to worry about link credit: 301 and other permanent redirects don’t lose it. Pointing many old addresses at one unrelated page, such as the new home page, can confuse visitors and might be treated as a “soft 404” error. Chains of redirects add delay for visitors, so keep any chain short, ideally no more than three hops. Pages you drop should return a not-found error (a 404 or 410), and the redirects should stay in place as long as possible: generally at least a year, Google says.
Keep the words, on a phone too
A new design can drop words without anyone deciding to: a shorter home page, a service page cut to a slogan, text left off the mobile layout. If a page brings in visitors, carry its content across. Google’s mobile-first indexing guidance says the same content on the desktop and mobile versions lets both rank for the same keywords, because indexing comes from the mobile site. If the mobile page is meant to have less, expect some traffic loss, it says; tabs or accordions are fine as long as the content stays equivalent.
Change one thing at a time
Google’s guide to moving a site recommends planning changes one after the other rather than all at once. Its example: a new domain, a new content management system and a new layout, done one at a time. If your domain does change, Search Console’s Change of Address tool is how you tell Google.
Launch, then watch
The guide notes that some owners block all crawling during development; at launch those blocks must come off. Submit the new sitemap in Search Console. Then expect some movement: for medium-sized sites, Google says it can take a few weeks or more before it starts showing the new addresses instead of the old ones, and rankings settle down over time. Our Business and Professional packages include connecting Google Analytics 4 and Search Console, and Google Search Console for business owners shows which reports to watch.
Google’s page on whether you need an SEO says a great time to hire one is when you’re considering a redesign, “the earlier, the better”. Our SEO audit, R6,500 incl. VAT, ends in a prioritised list of fixes. Moving a website without losing traffic turns this section into a checklist.
How can I redesign my existing website?
Decide what the site must do, find the pages that already bring in visitors, and choose the job: a refresh, a redesign, a rebuild or a move. Agree the scope and price in writing, build and test the new site on a staging copy, launch with redirects in place, and watch Search Console afterwards.
- Start with the business, not the look.
Write down who the site is for, what they come to find, and what you want them to do next: call, book, buy or ask for a quote. - Take stock of what you have.
List your pages and which of them bring in visitors. Find out who holds the logins for your hosting, your domain, Search Console and Google Analytics. - Choose the job.
Refresh, redesign, rebuild or move, as in the table above. The job sets the price. - Get the scope in writing.
The pages, who writes the words, which old addresses are redirected, and how much support you get after launch. Our Business package includes two rounds of changes, 30 days of support after launch and a handover video; Professional includes three rounds and 60 days. In those first 30 days, anything that breaks because of our own work is fixed free. - Build and test before it goes live.
A staging copy lets you check the new site while the old one keeps working. It comes with our hosting and our Professional package. - Go live with the redirects in place.
Switch the redirects on and check that old addresses land on the right pages. The launch steps above cover the sitemap and what to expect from Google in the weeks that follow.
You can refresh a simple site yourself if it is easy to edit. A rebuild or a move changes more at once, so it pays to use someone who does them regularly. If you wonder whether an AI tool could do it, redesigning with AI tools covers what they do well and where they break.
How do you choose who redesigns your website?
Choose someone who will still be there when the site needs its next update, and who can show you sites they have rebuilt and still look after. Ask what the price includes, who moves your content and redirects the old addresses, and get it in writing that the site and its content are yours to move.
That first point is the one we can show you. Some of our clients have stayed long enough for us to build their sites and systems and, years later, rebuild them.
| Client | Client since | What we rebuilt |
|---|---|---|
| Bonethrower | 2002 | Its website, most recently in 2016 |
| GiftBucks | 2003 | Its gift-card platform, as a custom WordPress plugin |
| Network Dynamics, formerly Flower Dynamics | Before 2005 | Its logistics management system, as a custom WordPress plugin |
| International Marimba Festival, part of Education Africa | Before 2005 | Its festival site, built in 2011 and most recently rebuilt in 2025 |
| Tin Soldier | 2005 | Its website, most recently in April 2025 |
| Something Fab, formerly ABFAB Online | 2005 | Its website, most recently in 2025 |
We still host Tin Soldier, Something Fab and the International Marimba Festival. GiftBucks and Network Dynamics have their own case studies; Network Dynamics’ system is private, with no public access.
When a business runs on one site or system for years, it matters who is still there when it has to be rebuilt. Since 2001, Fyre has built and run sites and systems for South African businesses, and for clients internationally in the UK, Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe, and has changed technology three times without changing what it does. Sites that last tells that longer story, and our work shows the sites themselves. On ownership: your website and its content are yours, and you can move them wherever you like.
Our website rebuilds and migrations service covers planned rebuilds and moves to a new platform or host, whoever built your current site. To price yours, tell us what the site has to do: Get a quote. We reply to new enquiries on the same business day.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to have a website designed in South Africa?
With us, a custom-designed business website of up to eight pages costs R15,000, a site with one of an online store, bookings, a membership or courses starts at R25,000, and custom systems start at R65,000, all in rand and incl. VAT. Managed hosting is R450 a month. Other quotes will differ, so compare what each one includes before you compare the totals.
Can I pay someone to design my website?
Yes. With us, the design and build of a business website of up to eight pages costs R15,000 incl. VAT, with forms, set-up for Google, two rounds of changes and 30 days of support after launch. You supply the words, or we write them at R975 a page incl. VAT. Whoever you pay, ask who will look after the site once it is live, and confirm in writing that the site and its content are yours to move.
How long does a website redesign usually take?
Our business websites are typically ready in two weeks, and sites with a store, bookings, a membership or courses in four; custom systems are scoped first, after a free discovery. Then allow time for Google. If addresses change, Google’s guide to moving a site says a medium-sized site can take a few weeks or more before the new addresses start replacing the old ones in its results.