In this guide · 8 sections
- 01Refresh, rebuild or migrate: which redesign do you need?
- 02What drives website redesign cost in Singapore
- 03Our fixed prices for a redesign
- 04SEO steps that must be in every redesign scope
- 05Speed and Core Web Vitals after a redesign
- 06Signs you only need a refresh, not a rebuild
- 07Do it yourself or get help?
- 08Frequently asked questions
Short answer
A design refresh on your existing platform is the cheapest option; a rebuild costs about the same as a new site; a platform move adds migration and redirect work. At IT Sorted a rebuild starts at S$1,490 and a migration at S$490. Insist that redirects and SEO checks are in scope.
Refresh, rebuild or migrate: which redesign do you need?
Start with what is actually wrong. A site that looks dated but brings in enquiries needs a different job from a site nobody can update, or one stuck on a platform you want to leave.
| Option | What changes | When it fits | Risk to SEO |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design refresh | Theme, colours, fonts, images, some layouts | Site works, looks dated | Low if URLs stay the same |
| Rebuild | Pages, structure, content, design, often the code | Site no longer matches your business | Medium: URLs and content change |
| Platform move | The system underneath (e.g. Wix to WordPress, WooCommerce to Shopify) | Current platform limits you or costs too much | Medium to high without redirects |
| Speed and SEO fix only | Performance, titles, sitemap, technical issues | Design is fine, results are not | Positive if done well |
If you are not sure, a quick audit usually answers it. Check whether the problems are visual, structural (wrong pages, confusing navigation, out-of-date services) or technical (slow, broken forms, hard to edit). Often the honest answer is a speed and content fix, not a redesign.
What drives website redesign cost in Singapore
The visual design is rarely the expensive part. These are the items that move a quote up or down:
- Number of pages and templates: six pages built from two templates is far less work than 30 unique layouts.
- Content: rewriting copy, new photography and translating into a second language often cost more than the build.
- Integrations: booking, payments, CRM, membership, multi-currency or a custom calculator.
- Data migration: blog posts, products, customer accounts and orders moved from the old platform.
- SEO preservation: URL mapping, redirects, metadata carried over, and checks after launch.
- Accessibility and speed targets: meeting WCAG 2.2 AA and good Core Web Vitals takes deliberate work.
- Who owns the old site: if the previous designer holds the logins, recovering access adds time.
When you collect quotes, send the same written brief to everyone so they price the same scope. Our website brief template gives you one to copy.
Our fixed prices for a redesign
For comparison, here is what our packages cost. All prices are fixed, in SGD, and every site is set up on accounts in your name. Third-party fees such as hosting, domain renewal and paid plugins are paid directly to the provider.
- Business Website (rebuild, up to 6 pages)Mobile-first, editable by you, on-page SEO, 3 revision roundsS$1,490
- Website Pro (rebuild, up to 12 pages + blog)Two languages, booking or enquiry form, PDPA cookie noticeS$2,990
- Website Migration (platform or host move)Backup, content moved, redirects kept, DNS cut-overS$490
- Speed & SEO Fix (on an existing site)Titles, sitemap, speed and technical SEOS$390
Typical rebuild with platform move (Website Pro + Migration)S$3,480
IT Sorted list prices, October 2026. Larger custom builds are quoted separately. See our website cost guide for other routes and running costs.
Our website cost guide covers DIY builders, freelancers and agencies, and the yearly running costs that continue after any redesign.
SEO steps that must be in every redesign scope
The biggest hidden cost of a redesign is lost traffic. It happens when old URLs disappear without redirects, page titles are rewritten carelessly, or content that ranked is cut. Google's guide to site moves with URL changes is the reference.
Benchmark before you touch anything
Export top pages and queries from Google Search Console, traffic from analytics, and note Core Web Vitals. This is your before picture.
Crawl and list every current URL
Include blog posts, PDFs and image URLs that get traffic or links, not just menu pages.
Map old URLs to new ones
Every old URL that matters gets a closest-match new URL. Do not send everything to the home page.
Set up permanent 301 redirects
Google recommends permanent redirects such as 301 or 308, avoiding chains, and keeping them for as long as possible, generally at least one year.
Carry over titles, descriptions and headings
Keep what works for pages that rank. Improve weak ones deliberately, not by accident.
Test on a staging site first
Check redirects, forms, tracking and mobile layout before switching DNS.
Submit the sitemap and monitor for 4 to 8 weeks
Watch Search Console for 404 errors and coverage drops, and fix them quickly.
If you are changing domain as well, submit a Change of Address in Search Console. Our migration guide goes through the full checklist.
Speed and Core Web Vitals after a redesign
New designs are often slower than the old ones: bigger hero images, sliders, animation and more plugins. Write speed targets into the scope. Google's Core Web Vitals define good as Largest Contentful Paint within 2.5 seconds, Interaction to Next Paint of 200 milliseconds or less, and Cumulative Layout Shift of 0.1 or less, measured at the 75th percentile of visits.
If the redesign is already live and slower than before, our guide to fixing website speed and Core Web Vitals shows where to start.
Signs you only need a refresh, not a rebuild
A full rebuild is not always the right call. A refresh can deliver most of the visual improvement at a fraction of the cost and risk.
A refresh is enough if
- Your platform is current and you can edit it easily
- The pages and services are still accurate
- Google traffic and enquiries are steady
- The main complaint is that it looks dated
You need a rebuild if
- Nobody can update it, or the theme is abandoned
- Your services, prices or audience have changed
- It fails on mobile or loads very slowly
- You need booking, payments or a shop the platform cannot do
Do it yourself or get help?
A refresh on a modern builder (new theme, photos and copy, same URLs) is a realistic DIY project. Rebuilds and platform moves are where professional help pays for itself, mainly through the redirect and SEO work most DIY projects skip.
Our Website Pro package (S$2,990) covers a rebuild of up to 12 pages with SEO carried over. Website Migration (S$490) handles platform or host moves with redirects and a planned DNS switch, and Speed & SEO Fix (S$390) is the right first step if the design is fine but results are not.
Frequently asked questions
It depends on whether you refresh the design, rebuild the structure or move platform, and on the number of pages, content work and integrations. As one reference point, IT Sorted's fixed prices in October 2026 are S$1,490 for a rebuild of up to six pages, S$2,990 for up to 12 pages and S$490 for a platform migration, with third-party fees paid separately.
It can if old URLs vanish without redirects, content that ranked is removed, or the new site is slower. It does not have to. Benchmark first, map every important old URL to a new one, use permanent 301 redirects and keep them for at least a year as Google advises, carry over titles and descriptions, and monitor Search Console for several weeks after launch.
A refresh can take days. A rebuild of a small business site usually takes a few weeks once content is ready, and a platform move adds time for data migration and testing. In practice the biggest delays come from waiting for content, approvals and logins, so agree who supplies what, and by when, before work starts.
A refresh on the existing platform is usually cheaper than a new build. A full rebuild often costs about the same as a new site, because the work is similar, plus extra effort for redirects and moving old content. If the current platform is sound, keeping it and refreshing the design is normally the lower-cost and lower-risk option.
Look for the number of pages and templates, who writes content, integrations, data migration, revision rounds, URL mapping and redirects, metadata carried over, speed and accessibility targets, testing on a staging site, a launch report, and who owns the domain, hosting and admin accounts afterwards. Missing items usually become extra charges later.