Start with what your customers see
Open your site on your phone, on cellular data, the way most of your customers will. Time how long it takes to show something useful. Try to call you, book, or find your prices in one or two taps.
If all of that works and the only problem is that it looks dated, you probably need a redesign, not a rebuild. What a business website should include is a good list to check it against.
Signs a redesign is enough
A redesign keeps the site and changes what is on it. It fits when:
- The site already works well on phones.
- You can log in and change text and photos yourself.
- The pages load quickly.
- The problem is the message: old photos, vague copy, missing prices or services.
- You own the domain and the account the site lives in.
Signs you need a new website
A new build replaces the site underneath. It is usually the cheaper path when:
- Text is tiny or pages scroll sideways on a phone.
- It takes several seconds to load, even on Wi-Fi.
- Nobody can update it, because the person who built it is gone or the platform is outdated.
- It shows a security warning, or still runs software that no longer gets updates.
- You are adding something the old site cannot do, like booking, a store or customer logins.
- You do not control the domain or hosting account.
What you keep either way
Your domain stays yours. A careful rebuild also keeps your standing in search: every old page address is redirected to its new page, so the links Google already knows keep working.
Your content is worth keeping too. The services, the photos of real work and the words customers already respond to usually carry straight over, rewritten where they need it.
What each costs
A redesign of words, photos and a few pages costs less than a rebuild, and how much less depends on how much changes. At TigerPoint a new business website starts from $499, a Shopify store from $999 and a custom web app from $1,499. The cost guide shows what moves each price.
The honest answer for your site comes from looking at it. The free written plan does exactly that: it says whether a redesign is enough or a rebuild is the better buy, and gives the exact price, within 48 hours.