The classic redesign failure is not visual, it is a traffic collapse four weeks after launch. It happens because URLs changed without redirects, or because content that was carrying rankings was cut for being unfashionable, or because the new structure buried pages that used to be reachable in two clicks. Search engines have to be told what became what, and if nobody plans that before launch, nobody can reconstruct it afterwards.
What the work involves
- A full inventory of existing URLs with traffic, rankings and links, before anything is designed
- A mapping from every old URL to a new one, including a decision for pages with no equivalent
- Permanent redirects implemented and tested before launch, not added when the traffic drops
- Retaining the content that is actually earning, even where it is unfashionable
- Staged launch with monitoring on rankings, errors and conversions from day one
- A rollback plan, because sometimes the honest response to week one is to go back
Why we are credible at this
We generate our sitemaps per request from the same sources the pages read, and the build fails if a page exists that no sitemap lists — precisely so a restructure cannot quietly orphan a page. The two hand-maintained lists that preceded it had already drifted apart.
What moves the price
We quote after discovery and the number is fixed before anything starts. These are the things that move it, so you can see roughly where your project sits before you talk to us.
- How many URLs exist today and how cleanly they map to the new structure
- Whether the platform is changing as well as the design
- How much content is being rewritten rather than migrated
- Whether the old site's analytics are good enough to tell you what is worth keeping
Questions we get asked
Other Web Design work
Tell us what you are trying to do
A short conversation is usually enough to tell whether we are the right people. If we are not, we will say so and point you somewhere better.