Chris Langeveldt
Founder, Christoffel
Your website went live a few years ago. It looked good then. Now you send people to it and quietly hope they don't look too closely.
Maybe the phone isn't ringing from it. Maybe it's slow on mobile. Maybe it still says things about your business that stopped being true two years ago. You know something's off, but "redesign" sounds like a big, expensive, open-ended project you don't have time for.
It doesn't have to be. This guide covers when a website redesign is worth it in South Africa, when it isn't, what it costs, and how to do it without losing the Google rankings you already have.
Redesign or refresh? Know which one you need
Not every tired website needs to be torn down. There are two different jobs here:
A refresh fixes the surface: new photos, updated copy, a cleaner layout on a few pages. The structure, platform and URLs stay the same.
A redesign rebuilds the site: new structure, new design, often a new platform. It's the right call when the problems are underneath the paint.
If your site is fast, ranks for your services, brings in enquiries and just looks a bit dated, a refresh is enough. If it fails any of the tests below, you're paying for the old site every day in lost clients.
7 signs your website needs a redesign
1. It's slow or clumsy on a phone
Plenty of your visitors will find you on their phone. Google indexes the mobile version of your site first and measures real-world speed with its Core Web Vitals. The "good" benchmark is the main content loading within 2.5 seconds. If your homepage takes longer than that on a normal phone connection, people leave before they see what you do.
2. It doesn't bring in enquiries
Traffic without calls, WhatsApps or form fills means the site isn't doing its one job. Usually the reasons are buried calls to action, no clear next step, or a contact form that's three clicks deep. We covered the common culprits in 5 signs your website is losing you clients.
3. Google can't find it
If you search for your service plus your town and you're nowhere, the site's foundations are likely the problem: missing page titles, thin service pages, no local signals, slow load times. See why your website isn't showing up on Google for the full checklist.
4. You can't update it yourself
If changing a phone number means emailing a developer and waiting a week, the site will always be out of date. A modern build should let you edit text, add blog posts and swap images in minutes.
5. It no longer matches your business
New services, new prices, new team, new area. If the site describes the business you were, not the one you are, you're attracting the wrong enquiries and confusing the right ones.
6. It looks like it was built a decade ago
People judge a business by its website in seconds. A dated design signals a business that doesn't pay attention to detail, even when the opposite is true. Fair or not, it costs you trust before anyone reads a word.
7. You're stuck with the person who built it
No logins, no access to the domain, no idea where it's hosted. If your web presence depends on one person answering their phone, that's a business risk, not just a website problem.
Two or more of these? It's time.
What does a website redesign cost in South Africa?
A proper redesign costs roughly what a new website costs, because the real work is the same: strategy, structure, design, copy, build and SEO. Reusing the old site rarely saves much, and often carries its problems forward.
At Christoffel, a redesign is priced the same as a new build. Our packages (excl. VAT) are:
Starter: R5,000 once-off + R1,200/month. Up to 5 pages, 2–3 weeks.
Growth: R10,000 once-off + R2,000/month. Up to 8 pages, local SEO and monthly SEO work, 3–4 weeks.
Premium: R20,000 once-off + R3,500/month. Up to 15 pages, advanced SEO and custom CMS, 4–6 weeks.
The monthly fee covers hosting, updates, backups, support and the small changes you'd otherwise pay for one by one. No contract, cancel any time. For a broader view of what agencies charge and the hidden costs to watch for, read how much a website costs in South Africa.
The cheapest redesign is rarely the cheapest outcome. A site that looks new but still doesn't rank or convert is just a more expensive version of the problem you started with.
How to redesign without losing your Google rankings
This is where most redesigns go wrong. The new site launches, it looks great, and three weeks later the enquiries dry up because Google lost track of the old pages.
Protect yourself with five steps:
List what already works. Before anything changes, pull your top pages from Google Search Console. Those pages carry your rankings.
Keep good URLs where you can. If /services/plumbing ranks, the new site should keep that exact address.
Redirect every URL that changes. Google recommends permanent (301) redirects from old addresses to their new equivalents, so visitors and rankings follow.
Carry over titles and content that rank. Improve them, don't throw them away.
Check Search Console after launch. Watch for crawl errors and broken pages for the first few weeks and fix them fast.
Every site we rebuild goes through this process as part of our SEO & Google work. Ranking is built in, not bolted on afterwards.
How we handle a redesign
We build on Framer: fast, mobile-first sites you can edit yourself without breaking anything. Here's how a redesign runs with us:
Audit. We look at what your current site does well, what it ranks for, and where it loses people.
Free 5-day homepage preview. Before you pay anything, we build a working version of your new homepage you can open on your phone.
Build. If you like it, we build the rest, move your content across and set up redirects.
Launch and look after it. Hosting, updates and ongoing SEO are handled monthly, so the site doesn't slowly go stale again.
More on what's included on our web design page.
Frequently asked questions
How often should a business website be redesigned?
There's no fixed timeline. Redesign when the site stops doing its job: it's slow, doesn't rank, doesn't bring in enquiries, or no longer matches the business. A site that's looked after monthly can stay current far longer than one that's left alone.
Will I lose my Google rankings if I redesign my website?
Not if it's done properly. Keep URLs that rank, set up permanent redirects for any that change, and carry over the content Google already trusts. Rankings drop when redesigns skip these steps.
Can I keep my domain name and email?
Yes. A redesign changes the website, not your domain. Your .co.za address and email stay exactly as they are.
How long does a website redesign take?
With us, between 2 and 6 weeks depending on the package and number of pages. You see a working homepage within 5 days.
See your new site before you spend a rand
You don't have to imagine what a redesign could look like. Tell us about your business and we'll build a working preview of your new homepage in 5 days, free. If you love it, we build the rest. If not, you walk away and owe nothing.
