Website redesign and rebuild

The most common reasons for website redesign or rebuild requests

Design overhaul

When discussing the need for a design overhaul, it usually becomes apparent that the client's problem is not so much or not exclusively the graphic design of the website.

In other words, they are not (only) dissatisfied with the design, colours and visual style of the elements on the pages, but with the structure, navigability and transparency of the site — in other words, its usability.

This is particularly the case for older sites, where a large amount of content has accumulated over the years and where the focus has shifted, the priorities have changed, the ideal user journey has changed.

In such cases, it is worth starting with a content review from an SEO perspective and, if a new web design is still needed, create one for the revised, restructured content.

Making non-responsive websites mobile-friendly

Sometimes a site owner is happy with the design and content of the desktop view, but just wants to have a mobile view of their site. 

Development can be enough to achieve this. 

This requires that the desktop version can be easily and naturally "translated" to mobile. In other words, elements that are next to each other on a large display simply need to be placed under each other on mobile, and there are no complicated design elements.

If there are more complex design elements, or layouts where it is not clear how they should be arranged on mobile, we need the help of our web designer to design the mobile view of each element.

Functional changes

In the vast majority of cases, it is easier and more cost-effective to rebuild old websites or those that were not developed by us, than to add new functionality to them.

In case of websites we originally built, it is not necessary to completely rebuild them to extend their functionality, because we build them to be flexible from the outset, we think about the possible future expansions at the design stage.

Depending on the extent to which the modification or the new functionality affects the user interface, it may require the involvement of a web designer, but can often be done by developers alone.

For example, to make a website multilingual, to integrate a custom newsletter system, or to add a download option to build an e-mail address database, it is not necessarily necessary to design new elements for the visitor interface, because either there are already design elements that can be used, or the change is not visible on the front-end.

Improving technical performance, loading speed

The majority of internet users, especially those on mobiles, often wait only 2-3 seconds for a page to load before leaving the site.

Load time has a big impact on user experience, which is why it is a ranking factor. 

Other than poor quality of hosting, some other factors can lead to poor performance: 

• using a content management system that is not fit for the purpose,
• features that are not implemented properly, 
• unfortunate choice of design templates, 
• the use of resource-intensive and vulnerable plug-ins.

In such cases, we strongly recommend a fresh start: rebuilding the site using Drupal content management system.

This does not have to involve a redesign of the visual appearance, i.e. the web design.

Streamlining content uploading

Sometimes the need for a website upgrade arises because the website owner find it difficult to upload content, or is unable to upload content the way they want, or is not getting the results they expect.

The frustration that comes with difficult content management does not help in keeping the content up to date – and regular content updates is one of the cornerstones of the success of a website.

In some cases, initially the way content management worked was fine, but over time, needs have changed and the content management system no longer feels user-friendly. It may now require a host of add-ons, all of which are potential security vulnerabilities.

In such cases, we recommend rebuilding the site with a Drupal content management system. Our Easy Build sites require only a form to upload content, and our Flexi Build sites allow you to build creative layouts on a user-friendly drag & drop interface.

Custom developed websites can even combine the two content uploading methods.