Updating or redesigning your website — four questions that will help you decide

An update fixes anything on the site that is out of date. A revamp replaces anything that has been built incorrectly. The difference isn’t in the price, but in whether the current framework can be repaired. If the site works on a mobile phone, you can edit the text yourself and the structure is sound, an update is almost always sufficient — and it’s clearly cheaper. If any of these three conditions aren’t met, an update is money down the drain. This article sets out four questions that will help you see the difference for yourself without having to ask any salespeople.

Short answer

	Update	Revamp
What do we do?	Content, design and software all up to date	The website is being rebuilt; content is being transferred
Structure	Remains	Subject to change
Web addresses	Preserved	They change, and they need to be managed
Duration	From a few hours to a few days	Weeks
Price	Hourly work	Fixed price, just like on the new site
When is the right time?	The design is durable, but the content isn’t	The base isn’t strong enough

So the question is put the wrong way round if it’s framed in terms of price. First, we need to find out what the current website can handle, and only then can we decide which task lies ahead. A salesperson who responds before having looked at the website is simply guessing.

What do ‘update’ and ‘revamp’ actually mean?

An update involves work carried out within the existing website. Texts are rewritten, images are replaced, the price list is corrected, WordPress and plugins are updated to the latest versions, and the slow homepage is optimised for speed. The site’s structure — which pages are included and their URLs — remains unchanged.

The revamp involves building a new website to replace the old one. The design will be created from scratch, the pages will be reorganised and the content will be transferred over. The old web addresses will be redirected to the new ones to ensure that search engine rankings are carried over.

These terms are often used interchangeably in sales, and this is unintentional more often than you might think. ‘Update’ sounds minor and ‘overhaul’ sounds major, so the same work is marketed under both names depending on which one goes down better. So when you ask for a quote, ask what’s going to be done — not what it’s called.

Four questions that make all the difference

You can check these yourself in about a quarter of an hour. The first three tell you whether the base will hold; the fourth tells you whether there’s a rush.

1. Does the website work on a mobile phone?

Open your own website on your phone, using the phone’s own internet connection rather than your home network. Do you have to zoom in to read the text? Does the menu disappear or overlap? Is the form designed so that it can be filled in using just your thumb?

If the response is poor, it is rarely down to a fixable error. The site was built at a time when it wasn’t designed for mobile devices, and mobile usability is inherent in the structure — not in the styling. This is the single most common reason why a simple update isn’t enough.

2. Can you manage to change just one sentence yourself?

Try changing a single contact detail or price. If you can’t log in, can’t find the relevant section, or the change requires a phone call to the creator, the site isn’t under your control. That doesn’t necessarily mean it needs a revamp — but it does explain why the site has fallen behind. Content that costs money to change every time simply isn’t changed.

Even if access is available and editing is possible, this argument does not yet support the reform.

3. How many add-ons are there on the site?

If the site is on WordPress, log in and check the number on the Plugins page. Less than ten is normal. Once you’re past thirty, the site is a jumble of code written by various people, with no one maintaining it as a whole — and updates start to break things because the components aren’t compatible with one another.

This is also the point at which updating ceases to be optional. In 2025, 11,334 new vulnerabilities were published in the WordPress ecosystem, 91 per cent of which were in plugins. Six were in the core. So the problem isn’t WordPress itself, but what’s been installed on top of it. This topic has been covered in a separate article: WordPress vulnerabilities and what the server does to protect against them.

4. When was the last time anything was done on the site?

Check the latest news item, the most recent testimonial or the year in the footer. If the most recent sign of activity dates back three years, the site is telling visitors something other than what was intended.

This question tells you nothing about the state of the foundation. It tells you whether it is worth starting the work now — and whether maintenance will continue afterwards. A new website that is not updated will be in the same situation in three years’ time.

When is an update enough?

Updates are sufficient as long as the structure is sound and the only things that are out of date are those that are meant to change: text, images, prices, contact details and software versions. In practice, this is more often the case than many people realise — particularly if the site is less than five years old and built using WordPress.

In such cases, an update is also a better option than a complete overhaul, as the web addresses remain the same. There is no need to redirect the addresses, nor does the search engine need to re-index the site. The risk is lower and the cost is a fraction of the price.

When is an update a waste of money?

When money is poured into an old foundation, but the foundation doesn’t improve. You’ll recognise the situation from the following:

• The site isn’t designed for mobile devices, and adjustments are made using styles applied on top of it.
• The design was purchased as a ready-made theme that is no longer supported. Updates are not possible as there is no developer to maintain it.
• There are dozens of add-ons, and every update breaks something. The work then becomes about fixing things, not developing them.
• The site is built on a platform from which you cannot extract the content. This means that the money spent each year on upgrading the old site increases the cost of any future migration.

Rule of thumb: if the same fault has been fixed twice and reoccurs a third time, it’s not a fault but a design issue.

How much does each cost?

Updates are charged by the hour, as the scope of the work depends on what is found. Our hourly rate is €95, and the number of hours required is agreed before work begins — this will be clear once the site has been reviewed. If the website is covered by a maintenance contract, software updates and backups are included in the monthly fee and are not invoiced separately.

The redesign comes at a fixed price: €1,490 to get started and €39 per month; for a small 1–3-page website, €990 and €29 per month, VAT 0%. The price is the same as for a new website, as the revamp is effectively a build from scratch — and the migration work, i.e. redirecting old URLs and transferring content, is included in the price and does not appear as an additional line item on the invoice.

In Finland, no statistics are published on what people actually pay for website updates. All price figures relating to this topic, including these, are published price lists rather than measured averages. For comparison, price ranges have been compiled in the article ‘How much do WordPress websites cost?’.

What about Google rankings?

They remain unchanged during updates, as the URLs do not change. This is the clearest advantage of the update.

During the revamp, they’ll be moved, and the crucial thing is whether permanent redirects are set up. When every old URL is redirected to the new one via a permanent redirect, search engines understand that the page has moved rather than disappeared, and its ranking is carried over. If no redirects are set up, the old URL will return an error page — and to the search engine, this means that the page no longer exists.

What you shouldn’t promise or believe: that nothing will fluctuate. For a few weeks, rankings will fluctuate in both directions as the search engine re-indexes the site. This is normal and will even out. The difference between a controlled and an uncontrolled transition, however, lies in the total traffic. This is discussed in more detail on the page ‘Website redesign’.

How can you be sure which one is in front?

Four questions provide some guidance, but they don’t reveal what lies beneath the server. If the answers remain unclear or you want figures before making a decision, the condition of the site can be assessed in terms of: speed, security, the status of plugins, search engine visibility, and what is worth keeping from the current site. We offer a WordPress audit for €690, with a report delivered within five working days — and the report is yours to keep, regardless of whether you choose to have the work done by us or by someone else.

It is also a way of avoiding the most common mistake in this sector: a revamp is commissioned simply because it was on offer, rather than because it was necessary.

In demand

What is the difference between updating and redesigning a website?

The update will be carried out within the existing website: text, images, prices and software versions will be brought up to date. The structure and web addresses remain the same. In a redesign, the website is rebuilt from scratch, the content is transferred, and old addresses are redirected to the new ones. An update is charged by the hour, whilst a redesign is a fixed-price project.

Is updating your website enough if it looks outdated?

It’s enough if only the content looks outdated. In most cases, the layout can be updated without dismantling the structure. An update isn’t enough if the site doesn’t work on a mobile phone, as mobile functionality is tied to the structure rather than the styles — in which case the fix would be built on top of the old framework.

How much does it cost to update a website?

Updates are priced by the hour, as the scope of the work can only be determined once the site has been assessed. Our hourly rate is €95 (0% VAT), and an estimated number of hours is provided before work begins. Under a maintenance contract, software updates and backups are included in the monthly fee. In Finland, no statistics are published on actual update prices, so all price figures in this sector are based on published price lists.

How often should a website be updated?

Software updates every month or more frequently, as they are essential for security: in 2025, 11,334 WordPress vulnerabilities were published, and 91 per cent of them were in plugins. Content is a different matter — prices and contact details need updating as soon as they change, whilst for most people, reviewing other content once a year is sufficient.

Will Google rankings drop if the website is redesigned?

Not if the old URLs are redirected to the new ones using a permanent redirect. In that case, the search engine will understand that the page has moved rather than disappeared, and the ranking will be transferred to the new URL. For a few weeks, rankings may fluctuate in either direction as the search engine re-indexes the site. With a simple update, rankings won’t change at all, as the addresses remain the same.