There are five things to decide before renewing your website: the purpose of the renewal, which pages and addresses to keep, your copy and photos, who will update the site after launch, and your budget and production method. If you approach a web agency without deciding these five points, you will not be able to compare quotes, and you may end up feeling that “the old site was better” once the new one is finished.
There are 5 things to decide. The very first one is your purpose
The first thing to decide in a renewal is why you are rebuilding the site. The reasons vary: the design looks dated, it is hard to read on a smartphone, inquiries have dropped, no one applies for jobs. The reason determines how much of the site needs to be rebuilt.
Once the purpose is clear, you can decide what to keep, what to rebuild and what to add. Conversely, if you start with a vague purpose, only the appearance ends up new and the results stay the same.
The order in which to decide the 5 things
1. Define the purpose of the renewal in countable terms
Write it in countable terms, such as “increase inquiries by 3 per month” or “increase job applications by 5 per year.” If you cannot settle on a number, a defensive goal such as “fix the smartphone display while maintaining the current number of inquiries” is fine too.
2. Decide which pages and addresses to keep
Your current website has built up search evaluation that helps people find you. If you change a page address (URL), you may not be able to carry that evaluation over. Google Search Central advises setting up forwarding (301 redirects) from old addresses to new ones when you change a site's addresses. Make a list of the pages that get the most traffic and the pages that lead to inquiries, and if you change their addresses, ask your web agency to set up the redirects.
3. Decide how much of the copy and photography to redo
Even in a renewal, preparing the copy and photos takes the most time in production. Whether you reuse your current text or rewrite it makes a big difference to the schedule and the cost. Keep the text that is working, and rewrite the pages that are unread, outdated or hard to understand. For photos, it is worth reshooting the ones that convey the atmosphere of your staff and your premises.
4. Decide who will update the site after launch
Decide who will update what, and how often, after launch. Whether you post news and case studies in-house or ask your web agency to do it changes which system you should choose. Decide at this stage who will handle WordPress core and plugin updates and backups as well.
5. Decide your budget and production method
Think about the budget in terms of both the initial cost and the monthly cost after launch. As a useful piece of public data, a survey by Web Kanji found that when small and medium-sized companies commissioned website production, the cost averaged 1,044,000 yen, with a median of 573,000 yen. For the production method, choose the one that fits your purpose, whether that is an AI-led approach that is fast and inexpensive, or a creator-led approach that builds from an analysis of your strengths and a bespoke design.
How to proceed with a renewal
Once you have decided the five points, here is how the work actually proceeds.
- Check the traffic on your current website. Using Google Analytics or similar, list the pages that are viewed most and the pages that lead to inquiries
- Summarize the five decisions on a single sheet of paper
- Give the same information to two or three web agencies and get quotes
- Compare the scope of the quotes. Check whether copywriting, the number of design proposals and maintenance are included
- Review the structure and design proposals and decide on a direction
- Gather the copy and photos, and build the site
- Before launch, check the address redirects, the inquiry form submission and the smartphone display
- After launch, check your search performance and traffic
Step 3, giving everyone the same information, is important. If what you tell each agency differs, you will not know what the differences in the quoted amounts actually represent.
Common mistakes in a renewal
Refreshing only the look without changing the content
Even with a new design, if the text and structure are the same, readers will behave the same way. Review the copy and structure to match your purpose as well.
Forgetting redirects and losing search traffic
When search traffic suddenly drops after a renewal, the cause is usually missing redirects for changed addresses. Before launch, check that the addresses of your main pages forward to the new pages.
Deleting the old website's data before launch
In case problems are found after launch, keep the data from the old website until the new one is stable.
No one is in charge of updates after launch
If the project ends at launch, the information will be out of date within a few months. Decide who will handle updates, and how often, before you go live.
How to write the one-page brief for your web agency
If you summarize the five decisions on one page using the items below, you can give every web agency exactly the same information.
- The address of your current website and a list of its main pages
- The purpose of the renewal and the numbers you want to achieve
- Pages you want to keep, pages you can drop and pages you want to add
- How much of the copy and photo preparation you will do in-house
- Whether you will handle updates after launch in-house or want them outsourced
- Your budget ceiling and your preferred launch date
With this sheet, comparing quotes becomes easier, and you save the trouble of repeating the same explanation at every meeting.
How to judge
Use the table below to think about the scope of your renewal.
| Situation | Suggested scope |
|---|---|
| The design looks dated, but inquiries are still coming in | Focus on reviewing the design and the smartphone display |
| Inquiries are declining | Include a review of the text and structure |
| Your business has changed significantly | Rebuild everything, starting with a review of strategy |
| Updates have stopped and problems are appearing | Rebuild the site and set up a maintenance arrangement at the same time |
Check your current website before the renewal
Before commissioning a renewal, checking the condition of your current website makes it easier to decide what needs fixing. Review the following items.
- How each page displays. Open it on a smartphone and see whether the text is too small and whether the buttons are easy to tap
- Loading speed. See whether there is a sense of waiting between opening a page and the content appearing
- Outdated information. Check whether prices, opening hours, staff introductions and news dates match the current situation
- The path to inquiry. Check whether visitors can get from each page to the inquiry button without getting lost
- The inquiry form. Submit it yourself and confirm that the email arrives
- Search performance. Search for your company name and see whether your website appears near the top
Sort the problems you find into “appearance problems,” “content problems” and “system problems.” Appearance issues are handled by revisiting the design, content issues by revisiting the copy and structure, and system issues by revisiting how the site is built.
For example, small text on smartphones or dated photos are appearance problems. Outdated prices or insufficient explanation of your services are content problems. Updates taking a long time or slow loading are system problems.
Organizing things this way makes what you tell your web agency clearer, and keeps you from spending money on work you do not need.
Post-launch checking schedule
After the renewed site goes live, check it at set intervals. On launch day, confirm that the main pages display correctly, that the inquiry form sends, and that the address redirects work. One week later, see whether any errors appear in Search Console. One month later, compare the number of visits and inquiries with the figures before the renewal. This comparison tells you whether you are moving closer to your goal.
Three months later, review the search terms people are using and the pages being read. If any part falls short of the purpose of the renewal, start fixing those pages first.
FAQ
It depends on the content. Web agencies generally estimate one to three months, and preparing the copy and photos often takes several weeks.
If the address redirects and the content of well-performing pages are carried over properly, rankings often do not drop significantly. That said, temporary fluctuations can occur after the change. After launch, check your search performance in Search Console.
Yes. If you carry the domain over, you can keep address changes to a minimum. First check who is registered as the administrator of the domain.
The Subsidy Program for Sustaining Small Businesses may be available. Website-related costs cannot be applied for on their own; they must be part of an initiative to develop new sales channels. Check the application requirements before you start production.
Yes. You can also fix only the areas that match your purpose. For example, you can limit the scope to the top page only, or to the pages that lead to inquiries.
You can start with a consultation about website production
In Merci Ltd.'s made-to-order production, our creators spend their time on strategic planning, identifying your strengths and deciding how to present them, and on design. WordPress coding is left almost entirely to AI, which is how we keep costs down for the same deliverables. We welcome consultations starting from the purpose of your renewal or which pages you want to keep.
