Website Refresh vs. Redesign vs. Redevelopment

May 4, 2022

Looking to refresh an outdated website? With spring in the air, it seems like an opportune time to revisit your business website and give it a little clean up—maybe even add a few new features to improve the user’s experience. 

But how do you know if your website needs a refresh or something a bit more complex? Let’s say, for example, you recently updated your brand style guide or maybe you’re interested in switching to an open-source CRM. At this point, a refresh might not cut it.

In this article, we’ll break down the basics of a website refresh, redesign, and redevelopment. We’ll then offer a few considerations to help you figure out which option will benefit your business website.

What Is a Website Refresh

Basically, a refresh is similar to a home renovation. This means the existing structure is the same, but the interior spaces are updated to improve the look and live-in experience. 

Think about updating your kitchen with new smart appliances, your walls with a fresh coat of paint, or your living room with new furniture to relax in and unwind. 

The home is still the same, but now your family gets to enjoy improved features that offer more style, functionality, and ease of use.

A website refresh may include:

  • Optimizing older content
  • Updating images
  • Installing new plugins
  • Streamlining your site’s navigation
  • Brightening a dim color scheme

As you can see, the changes aren’t too time consuming or expensive. Instead they are subtle updates that provide a big impact.

What Is a Website Redesign?

If a refresh is a renovation then a redesign is a remodel. This would involve significant changes to the layout or structure of the site.

A website redesign may include

  • Rebranding colors, fonts, styles, etc.
  • Adding new landing pages
  • Changing the design and layout of the web pages

Reasons for a website redesign may include

  • Your company wants to showcase new service pages or success stories (i.e., case studies)
  • You want to create a landing page to target, using a new PPC campaign.
  • You recently updated your brand style guide and need to redesign the site for consistency.

What Is Website Redevelopment?

A redevelopment is more like a complete tear down of an older home in order to build a new one. This means you can expect your site to look drastically different—in fact, it might come with a new website building platform and web hosting service. This is a positive change, especially if your current site is built using a web design software that doesn’t allow you to make changes to a page or post new content—without the help of a website developer.

Reasons for developing your website may include:

  • Want to switch to an open-source CMS
  • Current site is not responsive
  • You’ve had your old site for more than 5 years

Do I Need a Website Refresh, Redesign, or Redevelopment? 

As you can already guess, a refresh is a cost-effective way to give your site a little sprucing up, but that’s pretty much all it will do.

The other two options involve more time and investment but the return is much greater, too. That’s not to say that you should invest in a redesign, when a refresh will do. 

What’s important to remember is that getting a refresh when you really need a redesign or redevelopment is like putting duct tape on an old pipe. Eventually, you’re going to need to do it anyway, and it can create other issues in the interim.

Let’s also not forget that a website redesign or redevelopment offers an exciting chance to improve your site’s functionality, organic reach, and UI/UX experience.

To help you decide whether you need a refresh or something more, consider the following questions:

  • Is your site responsive on mobile and various screen sizes?
  • Does it reflect your current marketing strategy/brand image?
  • Does it help you stand out from your competitors?
  • Are you happy with your current website builder platform?
  • Does it allow you to easily edit, add content, and create new pages?

If the answer to these questions is “no”, it’s time to talk to a website expert.

You’re in luck, too, because we happen to know a few good ones!

Website Redesign Services

Your website should be helping you build trust with users and connect with more customers—not sending them away to your competitors.

To learn how our team of web design and development experts can help, contact us for a consultation!

We’ll help you build a site that’s on brand and on target with your marketing goals.

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