How Much Does A Website Redesign Cost? Is It Worth It?

Website redesign costs can vary widely depending on the scope of work, the complexity of your current site, and your goals. While many companies focus solely on the price tag, the real cost lies in time and missed opportunities.

Here’s a breakdown of the expenses involved with a website refresh, how to maximize the value of your redesign, and tips for cutting costs without sacrificing quality.

What Is The Biggest Website Redesign Expense?

The single most significant cost in a website redesign isn’t money—it’s time.

Every day spent on an inadequate website can cost your business valuable traffic, leads, and/or revenue. Once you recognize your current website isn’t meeting your needs, the best action is swift action. Start by addressing glaring issues with a quick update to buy yourself time for a more thorough overhaul.

Why is time so critical? The longer your redesign takes, the longer your competitors have to capture your market share. Even minor updates can make a big difference in improving user experience and conversion rates while you work on a full-scale redesign.

What Does A Typical Website Redesign Cost?

There’s no right answer, but most companies won’t work on a redesign for less than several thousand dollars. Top-tier agencies often want tens of thousands of dollars. The costs are hard to estimate, but there are a few things to keep in mind.

1. Changing the look and feel of a website can be very affordable if you’re on a popular platform or frighteningly expensive if you’re on a custom system.
2. Moving the site from an older or less ideal platform to something newer or faster can sometimes reduce the cost of a website update. It’s often easier to build something new than to fix up something old.
3. A lot of time goes into establishing a list of features and design requirements. The more you can do to simplify requirements, the faster (and less costly) a redesign will be.

Most companies will spend $8,000 to $50,000 on a website update.

What Should Website Redesign Companies Do?

All web design updates should follow the same process, but some companies will do more or less based on budget.

1. Competitor Analysis

• The key is to identify direct competitors going after the same customers, not just companies in a similar niche.
• Identify competitors’ strengths and weaknesses and how your new website can differentiate itself.

2. User Behavior Insights

• The best designers will leverage screen recordings and heatmaps to understand how visitors use your current site and recommend what to change and what to leave the same.
• Identify pain points by surveying existing/previous customers.
• Identify popular content by studying analytics, and make sure the content gets sufficient attention in the redesign process.
• Identify overlooked areas by carefully evaluating the existing site and comparing it to your requested updates.

3. Feature And Content Planning

• Collaborate to create a prioritized list of features and capabilities.
• Develop a detailed content map to guide the new site structure, and (if there’s room in the budget) conduct tree testing to ensure your site’s navigation is intuitive and user-friendly.

4. Data And Content Organization

• A redesign should include a quick audit of all existing content and assets.
• Scope and process should be evaluated against the existing content and assets and make sure nothing is being overlooked.
• If a redesign project includes re-platforming, the designers should organize (or help organize) your current website’s data before migrating.

5. Design Optimization

• Most agencies will propose different design ideas for key pages (homepage, product detail page, services page, etc.).
• If budget allows, the best agencies will use panel testing to compare and refine different design ideas and present those findings as part of the redesign process.

6. Soft Launch

• Before making the new design permanent, test it by launching the redesigned site on a subdomain and sending “test” traffic to it. Testing ensures that any bugs on the new site won’t have a negative effect on your rankings or users’ experience on the site. (Read more about how a redesign can help with search engine rankings.)
• If a soft launch isn’t feasible, the website redesign agency should have a plan to roll back to the old site if the new site doesn’t meet expectations.

7. Redirects, Analytics, Tracking, Etc.

A frighteningly high percentage of website updates and redesigns fail to consider redirects, overlook ad tracking scripts, or even forget to install analytics. A great website redesign agency will have a checklist for new site launches (and/or website update launches), and you should ask to see that checklist before hiring them.

Hitting the refresh button on your company’s website involves many steps, but an experienced website redesign agency will have a process to get it done in a reasonable amount of time. Learn more about how long it takes to redesign a website.

How To Save Money On A Website Redesign

Whether you have a tight budget or you’re just trying to apply capital correctly, there are several things website owners can do to reduce redesign costs without cutting corners.

• Get organized – Export all your content and data into manageable formats like spreadsheets or XML files.
• Prioritize features – Create a list of “must-haves” and “like-to-haves,” then prioritize them so the designers you’re talking to can better estimate costs.
• Do your own thorough competitor research – Research and provide a clear list of your closest competitors to your redesign team, and avoid the temptation to list competitors you aspire to compete against as opposed to companies you actually compete against.
• Study your site’s users – Use tools like Microsoft Clarity or Posthog to study visitor behavior. The more time you spend watching screen recordings, the better you’ll understand what’s working and what isn’t. (You have to spend a few hours to do it right.)
• Consider replatforming – Moving your ecommerce site to a simpler hosted platform like Shopify, BigCommerce, or WooCommerce is usually more cost-effective than staying on a complex platform. For non-eCommerce sites, WordPress or static site builders like Webflow are excellent choices for ease of use and affordability.

How To Calculate The Value Of An Updated Website (Website Redesign ROI)

Sometimes redesigns don’t happen until someone puts a pencil to the ROI of the project. Here’s how you go about doing that.

1. Estimate the improvement in traffic or conversion rate the new site will provide. Ideally, your redesign agency can provide you with reasonable estimates.
2. Apply that improvement to 12-24 months of data. Most companies calculate ROI on a two-year basis but redesigns usually make financial sense over a shorter term.
3. Present the redesign as a cost savings rather than an expense. If a redesign boosts revenue by 10% and ultimately earns the company an additional $500k per year, the $50k redesign fee effectively results in a $450k savings.

Rarely, a quality website redesign doesn’t improve website performance by 10-20%. At Spork, we’ve managed several website redesigns that have improved website revenue by 30-100%.

Conclusion

The cost of a website redesign is more than just dollars and cents—it’s about minimizing downtime, staying competitive, and delivering a site that meets your users’ needs. By understanding the process and taking steps to prepare, you can reduce expenses and ensure a smoother redesign experience.

If your website isn’t performing as it should, don’t wait. Start with small updates to improve usability now and work toward a comprehensive redesign that sets your business up for long-term success.

Need help? Contact us to learn more about creating a website that works as hard as you do!