--- title: "Title: Website Redesign | Rankings Kept, Design Renewed | Rivmedia" description: "Website redesign that protects what already works: every page measured first, every URL redirected, a faster mobile-first build and a launch watched for 30 days" url: https://www.rivmedia.co.uk/web-design/website-redesign/ site: "Rivmedia" published: 2026-09-08 modified: 2026-09-08 language: en-GB --- # Website Redesign ## Website redesign that keeps everything that already works. A redesign is not a new website with your logo on it. You have rankings, links, customers who know where things are and years of content. We find what is earning its place, fix what is not, and relaunch without the traffic dip that usually comes with a new site. [Talk about your redesign](https://www.rivmedia.co.uk/contact-us/) [How it’s quoted](#pricing) ★★★★★ Rated on Trustpilot & Google *·* Twenty years of relaunches with rankings intact FixRight idea, tired execution. Rewritten or restructured. MergeThree thin pages saying one thing. Combined, redirected. RetireNo visits, no links, no purpose. Removed, 301 mapped. Signs it’s time ## When a redesign pays for itself Not every tired site needs replacing. These are the situations where the cost of leaving it is higher than the cost of fixing it. 01 ### Enquiries have slowed but traffic has not Visitors arrive and leave. The design, the message or the phone number placement is losing them, not Google. 02 ### It looks dated next to competitors Design ages faster than content. If your site looks five years old, customers assume the business runs that way too. 03 ### It was built for desktop Most of your visitors are on a phone now. A site that merely fits on a small screen is not the same as one designed for it. 04 ### Editing it is a fight You avoid updating the site because it is fragile, slow or needs the old developer. That is a design problem as much as a technical one. 05 ### The business has moved on New services, new areas, a new name or a shift upmarket that the site still does not reflect. 06 ### It is slow, or failing Core Web Vitals Speed is now part of ranking and part of trust. A redesign is the moment to fix the foundations rather than patch them. Three routes ## Refresh, redesign or rebuild The first thing we work out together is how much needs to change. Choosing wrong in either direction wastes money. ### Refresh Same structure and content, new design layer. Right when the site is well organised and ranks, but looks tired. Fastest and cheapest, no URL changes at all. ### Redesign New design, revised structure, content reworked page by page, the good URLs kept and the rest mapped. The usual answer, and the one this page is about. ### Rebuild Platform change, new architecture, everything reconsidered. Right when the current site cannot be saved or the business has fundamentally changed. See [web design](https://www.rivmedia.co.uk/web-design/) and [migrations](https://www.rivmedia.co.uk/wordpress-migration-services/). Protecting what you’ve built ## Why most redesigns lose traffic, and why ours don’t The typical redesign changes URLs, drops pages, forgets the redirects and launches a slower site. Rankings fall, the agency blames Google, and the client has paid to go backwards. We treat the existing site as an asset with a value. Every page is measured before anything is touched, every decision to keep, change or remove it is deliberate, and every old address ends up somewhere useful. The redesign should be the moment your numbers go up, not the moment you start again. ✓ **A baseline before anything changes.** Rankings, traffic by page, enquiries by source and Core Web Vitals recorded first, so “did it work” has an honest answer. ✓ **A page inventory with a decision for each.** Keep, fix, merge or retire, based on what each page actually does, not how it looks. ✓ **A redirect map, tested before launch.** Every retired or moved URL points at its best replacement. No chains, no loops, nothing left to 404. ✓ **Internal links, titles and schema carried over.** The parts of SEO that live in the template are rebuilt deliberately rather than lost in the redesign. ✓ **Analytics continuity.** Tracking, goals and Search Console carry on uninterrupted so the graphs do not reset the day you launch. - Rankings baselined - Every URL accounted for - Faster than before - Watched for **30 days after launch** The process ## Six steps from tired to relaunched Nothing is designed until the site has been understood. It sounds obvious; it is rarely how redesigns are done. 01 ### Diagnosis We look at how the site performs now: analytics, rankings, speed, recordings of real visitors. This is part of the project, not a report you pay for and file. 02 ### Decisions The page inventory: keep, fix, merge, retire. Agreed with you, so nothing disappears by accident and nothing useless survives by inertia. 03 ### Design Layouts built around your customers’ questions and your best proof, on a mobile screen first, in your brand. 04 ### Content Existing copy sharpened, gaps written, images replaced where they are letting the design down. 05 ### Build and redirects A fast, editable WordPress build with the redirect map tested on staging against every old URL. 06 ### Launch and watch Launched at a quiet time, then rankings, errors and enquiries watched daily for the first month with fixes made as they appear. What you get ## A site that looks new and behaves better ### A site you can run A proper editor, sensible page templates and training. Adding a service or a case study should take minutes, not a support ticket. ### Speed as a feature Built and hosted to pass Core Web Vitals, which is why our own site does. See [performance tuning](https://www.rivmedia.co.uk/wordpress-performance-tuning/). ### Ownership The design, theme and content are yours from day one. If you ever leave, you take the site with you. ### Conversion built in Calls to action, proof and forms placed where visitors look for them. A redesign that does not raise enquiries has not finished. ### Accessibility Contrast, keyboard navigation and screen-reader structure done properly, which also tends to improve rankings. ### Care after launch Hosting, updates, backups and edits as one monthly amount, so the new site stays new. See [care plans](https://www.rivmedia.co.uk/wordpress-maintenance-plans/). How it’s quoted ## Quoted to how much needs to change A refresh of the design layer on a well-structured site and a full redesign with rewritten content and a new structure are different projects. We look at the current site, agree the route, and quote a fixed figure in writing. Pay-monthly options exist where spreading the cost helps. ### Fixed, in writing A short call or our project brief, then a written quote with exactly what is included. The figure does not move unless you ask for more. ### What moves the price - Refresh, redesign or rebuild - Pages needing rewriting versus restyling - Structure and URL changes to map - Shops, bookings or integrations to carry over ### Always included - Hosting, updates, backups and security - Content edits as you need them - Your design and theme are yours from day one - Training so your team can run it Tailored to your budget ### Contact us for a quote Send us the address of the current site and what is frustrating you about it. We come back with a fixed price and a straight view on whether it needs a refresh or the full job. [Contact us](https://www.rivmedia.co.uk/contact-us/) Free, takes a minute ### Not sure the site needs a redesign? Check first The free visibility check shows what is visible from outside: speed for real visitors, thin or templated pages, missing trust signals, and how you compare locally. It is a fair way to tell a refresh from a rebuild. [Run the free check](https://www.rivmedia.co.uk/visibility-check/) Straight answers ## Website redesign questions **Will a redesign hurt my Google rankings?** Not if it is done properly, and this is where most redesigns fail. Rankings drop when URLs change without redirects, content is thinned out, internal links vanish or the new site is slower. We baseline first, keep the URLs that earn their place, map everything else and watch daily after launch. **How is this different from your web design service?** Web design assumes a new site or a clean start. A redesign starts from what you have: the pages that rank, the links you have earned, the customers who know their way around. The process is built around protecting those while changing everything that needs changing. **Do you sell audits before the redesign?** No. The diagnosis is part of the project. We have never thought much of paid audits that hand over a PDF and leave; the value is in fixing what is found, so we fold the looking into the doing. **Can I keep my current content?** Usually much of it, sharpened. Pages that rank and convert are kept and restyled; thin or duplicate pages are merged; anything with no purpose is retired and redirected. You approve every decision. **How long does a website redesign take?** Typically six to ten weeks from brief to launch for a business site, depending on how many pages need rewriting and how quickly content is approved. Larger sites and shops take longer. **My site is not on WordPress. Can you still redesign it?** Yes. Redesigns from Wix, Squarespace, Joomla, older WordPress or bespoke systems all land on WordPress, with the content and redirects handled as part of the move. See our [migration service](https://www.rivmedia.co.uk/wordpress-migration-services/) for the technical side. **Will the site be faster afterwards?** Yes, and measurably. Speed is one of the baselines we record before starting, and the new build is tested against Core Web Vitals before launch. **Can we redesign in stages?** Yes. A refresh of the design layer first, structural changes second, is a sensible route when the budget or the calendar is tight. We will tell you which order makes sense for your site. **What happens to my old site while you work?** Nothing. The new site is built and tested on a staging copy; your live site carries on until launch, which happens at a quiet time and takes minutes. **How much does a website redesign cost?** It depends on how many pages need real work and whether the structure changes. A refresh of a well-organised site is modest; a full redesign with rewritten content and redirect mapping is a proper build. We quote a fixed figure in writing after looking at the site. ## Keep the rankings. Lose the 2019 look. Tell us the address and what the site is failing to do. We will tell you honestly whether it needs a refresh, a redesign or a rebuild, and what each would cost. [Talk about your redesign](https://www.rivmedia.co.uk/contact-us/) [Ask a question first](https://www.rivmedia.co.uk/contact-us/) Call us[01553 341 334](tel:01553341334) Email[contact@rivmedia.co.uk](mailto:contact@rivmedia.co.uk) Mon–Fri, 9am–5pm · Kings Lynn, Norfolk · Replies within one working day. --- Source: https://www.rivmedia.co.uk/web-design/website-redesign/