Signs a site needs rebuilding rather than patching
If three or more of these are true, patching is usually the more expensive option.
- It takes more than three or four seconds to load on a phone
- You have to ask somebody else to change a phone number or a price
- It runs on a theme or page builder that is no longer updated
- The design does not work properly on a phone screen
- You cannot remember the last time the platform or its plugins were updated
- It ranks for your business name and nothing else
- There is no clear page for each of the things you actually sell
- The contact form quietly stopped emailing you at some point
How a rebuild works
We audit what is there
Which pages exist, which get traffic, which rank, what is broken, and what has to carry across. This is the step where we find the form that stopped working.
We map old URLs to new ones
Every page with rankings or links pointing at it gets either the same address on the new site or a 301 redirect to its replacement. This is the step that gets skipped, and it is why rebuilds lose traffic.
Choose the stack, then design and build on a staging site
We recommend a stack in writing and say why: custom on a modern stack for most sites, WordPress if you require it. The new site is then built alongside the live one. Nothing changes for your visitors until you have seen it and approved it.
Launch, then watch
We move it across, reissue SSL, submit a fresh sitemap, and watch Search Console for crawl errors over the following weeks.
What we protect during a rebuild
Your rankings
Existing URLs are preserved or redirected. Titles and headings on the new pages target the same queries as the old ones, written better.
Your content
Posts, pages, images and any shop products come across, whatever the old site runs on. We do not make you retype your own site.
Your email and forms
Contact routing is set up and tested on the new site before the old one is switched off.
Your domain
The domain stays yours and stays where it is unless you ask us to move it. We only need DNS access at launch.
Common questions
Will a rebuild hurt my Google rankings?
It can, if URLs change without redirects, which is the most common way a rebuild goes wrong. Mapping old addresses to new ones and putting 301 redirects in place is a standard part of every rebuild we do.
My site is on WordPress. Do I have to stay on it?
No. Moving off WordPress onto a custom build is a normal outcome of a rebuild, and for most sites it is what we recommend: faster, less to update, and nothing to patch on a Monday morning. If you need to stay on WordPress, because your team edits in it or you run a WooCommerce shop, that is fine and we build there.
My site is on Wix, Squarespace or an old page builder. Can you still rebuild it?
Usually yes. We have moved sites off Wix, Squarespace, hand-coded HTML and abandoned page builders. Tell us the current platform and we will tell you what carries over.
Could you just fix the site I have?
Sometimes that is the honest answer, and we will say so. If the theme is still supported and the problem is speed or a handful of pages, a tidy-up costs less than a rebuild.
How long is my site down for?
It is not. The rebuild happens on a staging site and the switch itself takes minutes.
Send us the address of the current site
We will look at it properly and tell you whether it needs a rebuild or a tidy-up, and roughly what each would cost.