A new website, or a redesign of the one you have?

Most people who call us aren't really asking for a new website. They want the one they already have to finally do its job. Open properly on a phone, show up on Google, bring in enquiries. Sometimes a repair is enough, and sometimes it's cheaper to start over. You can't tell which from the design. You have to look at what's standing underneath it, and that's easier than it sounds.

When a redesign is worth it

With a redesign, the skeleton of the site stays and only what visitors see changes. It's the right call when everything under the bonnet is fine and the site simply looks like it's from 2016.

• The structure makes sense. Visitors find pages where they expect them, and each page has a clear job.
• The content is usable. The copy describes what you actually do, and the photos are your own and perfectly decent.
• The technology is current. The system is still maintained and the plugins still get updates. Nothing is stuck on a version from six years ago.
• Something already ranks. If Google already shows you for some searches, you have something to build on.
• You change the content yourself. If you can do that today without a developer, you'll still be able to after the redesign.

If that sounds like your site, a new look, faster loading and pages neatly organised by service will do the job. There's no point knocking down a house that only needs a fresh coat of paint.

When a new site is cheaper than a repair

You'll recognise the opposite case because every small edit turns into a negotiation. You ask for one price to be changed and the answer is that it will take three days. And no, the developer isn't being lazy. The site is fighting back.

• The system is no longer maintained. An old version with no security patches leaves the door open, and the moment you try to upgrade it, half the site falls apart.
• The plugins are dead. The plugin everything depends on hasn't had a new version in years, and without it even the parts that work now stop working.
• Mobile was an afterthought. If the page slides sideways on a phone or you have to zoom in to read the text, a bit of CSS won't fix it. The problem is in the foundation.
• Nothing can be changed without code. Prices, dates and copy are set in concrete inside the files, so every little change means calling a developer.
• Speed is a lost battle. A theme that loads a megabyte and a half before anything appears on screen won't get fast with a few touch-ups.

A five minute test, without a single quote

You can do this yourself, before you ask anybody for a price. Five checks, and not one of them costs a cent.

• Speed on mobile. Put your address into PageSpeed Insights and look only at the mobile score. If it's below 50, that's a sign the problem isn't cosmetic.
• Open it on your phone while you're out. Not on the Wi-Fi at home, but outside on a weaker signal. That's how your customers open it.
• Type site:yourdomain.hr into Google. The number of results shows how many of your pages Google is holding in its index at all.
• Try changing a single word. If you don't know where to do it, or you have to call someone to do it for you, there's your answer.
• Check when something was last published. If the latest news item is three years old, the content has already failed this one.

If the first two checks pass and the last three fail, you probably need a redesign and new content rather than a new site. If the first two already fail, the foundation is worn out. And if visibility is what bothers you most, have a look at why your site is not showing up on Google.

What you keep in both cases

The most common worry is that a new site means starting from zero and losing everything you've built up. It doesn't. All of this comes with you, whichever way you decide.

• The domain. It stays the same, and so does everything tied to it.
• The content. Copy and photos move with you, and whatever no longer holds up gets cleared out along the way.
• Google rankings. If the addresses are moved across properly, what ranked before keeps ranking.
• Links from other sites. Links you've collected over the years still count, as long as the old addresses lead to the new ones.
• Email. It has nothing to do with the website, and nobody touches it.

The most expensive mistake is losing the old addresses

This is where most badly handled moves fall apart, and it rarely gets a mention in the quote. When a site changes, the addresses often change with it. The old /services.php?id=4 becomes /services/something. If nobody connects the old address to the new one, every link that pointed to that page for years suddenly leads nowhere. And Google spends months wondering where you've gone.

The fix is called a redirect, and it's done before launch, not after the damage is done. Every old address gets listed and assigned a new one. For Zov Divljine that came to 133 redirects, one by one, because the old shop had built up years of addresses that couldn't be allowed to disappear. We'll admit it's not the most exciting part of the job.

So before you sign with anyone, ask them one question. How will you carry the old addresses over? If the answer is vague, ask to see the list.

What it looks like when it goes well

When a move is done properly, nobody notices a break. For Gospoja Mendula the new shop brought 10% higher sales. And not because it's prettier. Shipping was finally calculated by weight, and the stock levels were accurate.

Speed is the other half of the story. The page you're reading right now paints its main content on a phone in about a second. There's no trick to it. The page simply carries no code it doesn't need. Don't take our word for it, check it yourself.

What this means for price and timeline

A redesign is usually the smaller job, because whatever works is left alone. A new site is the bigger job, but with a genuinely old site it often works out cheaper. You're not paying to work around problems that would keep coming back anyway.

In both cases the scope depends on the same things. How many pages there are, whether you need bookings or online sales, how much of the content is ready and how many old addresses have to be carried over. We break it down in more detail in how much a website costs, and for shops in how much a web shop costs.