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Your website is often the first impression potential customers have of your business. A sleek, user-friendly, and up-to-date website can be a powerful tool for attracting and retaining clients.
However, achieving this requires more than just a DIY approach; it often means bringing in the experts. Hiring an agency for your website overhaul can be a game-changer, offering professional website design, seamless functionality, and an optimized user experience.
In this blog, we’ll dive into what goes into a website redesign, the different approaches agencies may take, and the costs and considerations associated with each approach.
Table of Contents
What Goes Into an Agency-Managed Website Redesign
You can expect an agency-managed redesign to focus on delivering a website of professional, industry-leading quality that sets you apart in the market. This includes an efficient time to market, allowing your business to stay up-to-date and competitive in a rapidly changing space.
Redesigns can enhance brand reputation and optimize your user experience. Partners, like TechArk, are sure to test for top-notch performance and functionality, ensuring that every aspect of the site operates flawlessly.
Additionally, agency-managed redesigns offer maximum flexibility of choice, giving you the ability to tailor the site to your specific needs and preferences.
If you choose to work with an agency, you will often see the scope of services broken down into the following components:
- Design – The hours required to create design mockups and review the developed site
- Development – The time it takes to build the site/make the design changes in the code
- Quality Assurance (QA)– Testing time to ensure the new designs work on different browsers and devices
- Launch – Making the new site live on the internet
- Project Management– Administrative time to gather requirements and ensure the redesign meets standards
Different Approaches to Website Redesign
When you work with an agency like TechArk, you may be given a choice of website redesign considerations: a themed website, a custom website design, or an iterative design retainer. Each approach has its own pros and cons, so picking the right approach depends on your goals, budget, and the size of your business.
The right professional agency will consult with you to evaluate these factors and guide you to the option that’s the best fit.
1. Themed Website
What it is:
Website themes typically include:
- Page templates
- Flexible layout/design options
- WordPress plugins (for functionality)
- A page builder
- A specific use case (i.e., a theme for a profession or audience type)
A theme can be built from scratch or a developer can use a theme from a market such as ThemeForest or YooTheme. For the purposes of this blog, when we refer to “themes,” we refer to existing templates.
Pros:
- Lower Cost
- Quicker turnaround time from project start date
- Flexible – the right theme will be able to scale relatively easily
Cons:
- Less control
- Lower performance
- Limited integrations
When to Choose a Pre-Built Theme:
A pre-built theme is best for when your website, or business, is small. There are options for single-page layouts and for engaging animations that work with pre-built themes as well as they do for a custom-built website.
What Affects Website Redesign Costs For Pre-Built Theme Websites:
- How much customization do you need to the existing theme
- How many integrations do you need
- Number of pages that need to be built
- Whether you already have content for your site, or if copywriting is needed
2) Custom Website Design
What it is:
This option is what most people think of with a website redesign. A company hires an agency, that creates mockups of a new website, and then they build the new website from scratch.
Pros:
- Greater SEO Benefits
- Better performance
- Better integrations
Cons:
- Higher cost
- Needs more time to develop
When to Choose a Custom Website Design:
If you have a large business or website (50+ pages), you should look at a custom website redesign. You may also consider a custom website if you have custom software that you need integrated.
What Affects Website Redesign Costs for Custom Built Websites:
- How many pages the site will have
- Any custom copywriting the agency will provide
- The number of page templates, design variations, and revisions to be included
- Branding packages
- Custom integrations and premium plugins
Learn More: Should I Use a WordPress Theme or Custom Website Design?
3. Iterative Design Retainer
What it is:
Businesses who do not want a full redesign or who wish to stay on their current website often choose an iterative approach, where they tackle their website redesign in increments.
This approach works well because it avoids the large, upfront cost of a website redesign by spreading the work through a monthly retainer and focusing on smaller, manageable changes.
Pros:
- Distributes cost over months
- Focuses on immediate and direct needs
Cons:
- More time may be needed to achieve goals
- Limited by number of hours dedicated that month
When to Use an Iterative Design Retainer:
This approach works well for home page redesigns, a simple update to the look and feels without changing the layout, adding new page templates, or doing any animation projects.
What Affects Website Redesign Costs for an Iterative Design:
- How many hours do you need
- Project scope and complexity
- The website platform/CMS system
- Level of development specialization required
- Whether you already have content or need copywriting
- Custom integrations
Ready to Start Your Website Redesign?
If you’re considering a Virginia web design company to help with your next project, TechArk has more than 12 years of expertise designing websites of all sizes.
Learn more about our work and why our agency is the right fit for you.