Is your website ready for a redesign?
Ten yes/no questions that tell you whether your website needs a refresh, a redesign, or a full rebuild — and what to protect if you go ahead.
Redesigns get commissioned for bad reasons (the CEO is bored of the homepage) and skipped for worse ones (nobody wants to face the CMS). These ten questions cut through both. Answer honestly — each 'no' is a point — and the scoring at the end tells you which project you're actually facing.
0–2 no's: refresh. 3–5: redesign. 6+: rebuild the foundation
Questions 1, 6, and 8 failing means the platform, not the paint
If Google sends you traffic, plan the SEO migration before designing anything
Fix tracking before redesigning, or you'll never measure the improvement
The ten questions
Answer yes or no. Count the no's. Have your last three months of analytics open if you have them — several of these are checkable, not guessable.
- 1. Does the site load in under 3 seconds on a phone on mobile data?
- 2. Can a non-technical team member update any important page today?
- 3. Does the design still match how you present the business in person and in proposals?
- 4. Is the site producing enquiries every week?
- 5. Do visitors on phones convert (enquire/buy) at a rate close to desktop visitors?
- 6. Has the site gone a year without a security scare or extended downtime?
- 7. Does Google Search Console show your key pages indexed and earning clicks?
- 8. Can the current platform support what the business needs next year (listings, bookings, languages, integrations)?
- 9. Is your content current — no dead team members' bios, discontinued services, or 2022 prices?
- 10. Do you know which pages and channels produce your enquiries?
Scoring: which project you're actually facing
0–2 no's: your foundation works. Whatever's bothering you is a refresh — content updates, conversion tweaks, maybe a visual pass on key pages. Don't let anyone sell you a rebuild.
3–5 no's: a genuine redesign is justified, and the pattern of your no's says where. No's on questions 3–5 point at design and conversion; no's on 1, 6, or 8 hint the platform itself may be tiring. Scope carefully before choosing redesign vs rebuild — our comparison guide covers the decision in depth.
6+ no's: the foundation is the problem. A cosmetic redesign would burn budget on a failing base — this is rebuild territory, and the good news is a rebuild resets the maintenance burden, the speed problem, and the editing bottleneck in one project.
Before any redesign: protect what works
If question 7 was a yes — Google is sending you traffic — that traffic is attached to URLs and content a careless redesign will destroy. Inventory your ranking pages, plan 301 redirects, and carry ranking content over. The full process is in our redesign-without-losing-rankings guide; skipping it is the most expensive mistake in the entire redesign genre.
And if question 10 was a no, fix tracking before the redesign — otherwise you'll never know whether the new site actually improved anything.
Frequently asked questions
How often should a business redesign its website?
There's no fixed cycle — redesign when the site blocks the business, not when it turns three. Well-built sites on sound platforms stay effective for 4–6+ years with content upkeep. The quiz on this page is the actual test: it measures blockage, not age.
What's the difference between a refresh, a redesign, and a rebuild?
A refresh updates content and conversion elements within the current design. A redesign changes what visitors see — layouts, copy, visual identity — on the existing platform. A rebuild replaces the platform underneath. Costs and risks rise in that order, which is why diagnosing correctly matters.
My website looks outdated but still gets leads — should I touch it?
Carefully. 'Ugly but converting' beats 'beautiful but silent', and plenty of redesigns have killed working sites. Redesign with discipline: keep URLs, keep the content that ranks, A/B what you can, and treat the working enquiry flow as protected infrastructure. The leads are the point; the aesthetics serve them.
Can Qodex Media help me decide redesign vs rebuild?
Yes — a short website review settles it with evidence: speed diagnostics, Search Console analysis, CMS assessment, and conversion review, ending in a recommendation with scope and budget brackets for whichever path fits. Cheaper than commissioning the wrong project.