Website redesign cost in 2026: what you'll pay and why

A redesign of a small business website usually costs somewhere between a few hundred dollars for a refresh of one or two pages and a few thousand for a new site built on a new platform. Agency guides that rank for this search quote anything from about $2,000 to $40,000 for a small site, and most of that gap comes down to scope. Page count explains surprisingly little of it. What matters more is what the redesign includes, what pushes the price up, and how much work goes into keeping the traffic your current site already earns.

How much does a website redesign cost?

The range is wide because "redesign" covers three very different jobs.

The cheapest is a refresh: same platform, same pages, new look on the parts that matter most. Usually the home page, a services page and the contact page get new layouts, and the rest inherit a tidier style. It's often the right choice if the site works but looks dated.

Next is a rebuild on the same platform, with a new page plan, new design and new templates, and content moved across. If your WordPress site runs on a heavy page builder and nobody dares edit it, this is often where you end up.

The biggest is a rebuild on a new platform, moving from Wix, Squarespace or an old WordPress install to something else. Here you pay for the design and build plus the migration: content export, URL mapping, redirects and checks after launch.

Here's how those map onto our own published prices from the Ortha pricing page, so you have real numbers to compare quotes against.

• A one-page launch site starts at $500.
• A starter website of up to 5 pages starts at $1,250, including launch, redirects and a handover session.
• A business website of up to 8 pages with a blog, news or projects section starts at $2,000.
• Moving off Wix, Squarespace or old WordPress starts at $250 as an add-on.
• A new page layout on an existing site starts at $250, and an extra page is $150.

So a five-page small business site rebuilt from Squarespace onto a new platform would start at about $1,500 with us before copywriting or extra features. A refresh of three main layouts on a site you're keeping could start around $750. Every one of those gets a fixed quote against a written scope first.

What makes a redesign cost more?

The things that move the price of a redesign are mostly the same as for a new site, with two extras that only apply when there's a site already live.

Layouts come first. Ten service pages built from one template cost far less than ten pages that each need their own design. When you ask for a quote, list the page types you have as well as the total.

Then there's content. If the words on the current site are still accurate, moving them across is quick. If they need rewriting, that's a separate job. On our list, copywriting is $125 a page. Most redesigns sit somewhere in between, where the services pages need rewriting and the about page just needs a tidy.

Features add work too. A booking calendar ($100 on our list), online payments (from $300), a second language (from $400) and a client login each need building. A login area usually means you're asking for a web app as well as a website, which is a different scope. We wrote about how to tell a website from a web app if you're not sure.

The first extra is migration. Someone has to export your pages, posts and images, check what's worth keeping, and map every old URL to its new home. A small brochure site might have 15 URLs. A site with five years of blog posts can have hundreds.

The second extra is clean-up. Old sites tend to carry plugins nobody remembers installing, duplicate pages and broken forms. Finding them is part of the job, and a quote that ignores them is likely to grow later.

Is it cheaper to redesign or start over?

It depends on what's underneath. A redesign that keeps the platform is cheaper when the platform is healthy. If your WordPress site is up to date, loads in a reasonable time and the team can edit it, a new theme and new layouts may be all you need.

Starting over is cheaper over a few years when the foundation is the problem. Signs of that:

• Editing a page means fighting the page builder, so nobody does it.
• The site is slow even after images are compressed and caching is on. Our post on why WordPress sites get slow covers how to check this before you decide.
• Plugins can't be updated without something breaking.
• You've been hacked before and aren't sure the site is clean.

In those cases a new theme on top of the old site often means paying twice. Our WordPress service starts every rebuild with a short review of theme, plugins, speed and content, and tells you whether fixes will do or a rebuild is worth it.

Will a redesign hurt my Google rankings?

It can, and nobody can promise it won't. What you can do is reduce the risk.

Google's guidance on site moves is the clearest public source on this. Three points matter most for a small business redesign.

1. Map old URLs to new ones and use permanent (301) redirects. Google says 301 and other permanent redirects don't cause a loss in PageRank. Pages that disappear without a redirect are the main way redesigns lose traffic.
2. Change one thing at a time where you can. Google's example is that if you're moving domain, changing CMS and changing layout, you should do them one after another. For a small site that isn't always practical, but it's a good reason not to change your domain in the same week.
3. Expect some movement. Google notes that for medium-sized sites it can take a few weeks or more for the new URLs to replace the old ones in search.

On our side, we keep pages that are useful, map old links to new ones and carry over page titles and descriptions. Our websites page says the same thing in its FAQ: rankings can change during a redesign, and we won't guarantee every position stays where it is.

If your current site gets most of its leads from search, ask any studio you talk to how they'll handle redirects. If the answer is vague, treat that as a warning.

What should a website redesign quote include?

A redesign quote you can compare against another one should list:

1. The page types and how many pages use each one.
2. What happens to existing content: moved as is, edited, or rewritten, and who does it.
3. The platform and whether it changes.
4. The redirect plan: who maps old URLs and when the redirects go live.
5. Features, each named.
6. What gets removed, such as old plugins, unused pages and outdated forms.
7. Running costs after launch: domain, hosting, paid plugins, care.
8. Who owns what. The domain should stay in your name, and you should own the code, design files and content at the end.
9. A timeline that starts from an approved quote. Our starter websites typically take 2 to 4 weeks and business websites 3 to 5.

If you want to get more from the first call, we have a short list of what to have ready before you brief a web studio. For a redesign, add two things to it: access to your analytics, so the studio can see which pages bring in visitors, and a login for your current site or host.

Can I pay for a redesign monthly?

Yes. Some studios, including us, bundle the build with hosting and care into one monthly fee. Our Build & Care plans start at $149 a month for a site of up to 3 pages, or $249 a month for up to 5 pages with a blog. There's no setup fee and a 6-month minimum.

Paying monthly costs more over time than paying once. Over a year, Core at $249 a month comes to $2,988. A starter website bought outright is $1,250 once, plus about $948 for a year of our care plan at $79 a month, plus hosting. It suits a business that wants the new site now and would rather keep cash for other things. If you go that way, check what happens when you cancel. With our plans the domain stays in your name and you own the site, so you can move it after the minimum term.

How often should you redesign a website?

There's no fixed schedule, and a calendar date is a poor reason to rebuild. These are better reasons:

• Your services, prices or audience have changed and the site no longer describes the business.
• Visitors arrive but don't call, book or buy.
• The team avoids editing the site.
• The platform has become a security or speed problem.

A site that still does its job can usually be kept current with smaller updates: a new page here, a rewritten services page there. That spreads the cost and avoids the risk of a big relaunch.

FAQ

How much does it cost to redesign a small business website?

For a small site, expect anything from a few hundred dollars for new layouts on the main pages to a few thousand for a full rebuild with migration. With us, a 5-page starter website starts at $1,250 and moving off Wix, Squarespace or old WordPress starts at $250 on top.

How long does a website redesign take?

A small redesign often takes 2 to 5 weeks once the quote is approved. Our starter websites typically take 2 to 4 weeks and business websites 3 to 5. Waiting on content and feedback is the most common cause of delay.

Will I lose SEO if I redesign my website?

You can lose traffic if old pages disappear without redirects. Map every old URL to a new one, use permanent 301 redirects, keep useful pages and carry over titles. Expect some movement for a few weeks while Google recrawls the site.

Should I redesign or rebuild my website?

Redesign on the same platform when it's healthy and easy to edit. Rebuild when the page builder, plugins or past hacks make every change risky. A short review of your theme, plugins, speed and content should tell you which. You can request a fixed quote or book a free 30-minute call to talk it through.