Website redesign timeline: key milestones explained

A startup or business website influences the progress and success of the whole brand. It serves as a powerful tool in the digital strategy. In a world where consumer expectations always evolve, startups and businesses should continually adapt and accept the trends to stay competitive. It especially applies to websites. If you want to retain your audience and even attract new customers to your brand, you should keep your website up-to-date and redesign it if you notice it doesn’t pay off enough. UX/UI improvements are not just extra accessories to your site but key growth stimuli for brands. A website redesign can completely change your business results and improve your search engine visibility. But how long does it take to redesign a website? 

In this article, we will focus on a website redesign project timeline and the factors influencing the redesign duration. We will share what a website redesign involves. By understanding the details of the website redesign timeline and the steps in the website redesign process, you will be able to define a more precise timeframe for your project. So, continue reading and learn how long it takes to redesign a website! 

Factors that affect website redesign timeframe

Whether you want to improve conversion rates, get more website traffic, or improve user experience and perception, a website redesign can be your game-changer. There are different kinds of web redesign projects, and their duration depends on a mix of factors. What do you choose between custom vs. template design? Can you provide prompt feedback to keep the project moving quickly? How many stakeholders should review your website design? These and other details we have compiled below impact the time to redesign your website. 

1. Scope of the redesign
   You should understand that a minor facelift, such as changing images, fonts, and colors, will be completed much faster than a complete overhaul of the site’s features, content, and structure. A complete redesign usually involves revisiting every element of the platform, including design, functionality, content, and navigation. The process often requires the integration of new features such as custom-built tools, a blog, or e-commerce capabilities, which can increase the complexity of the project. Meanwhile, a partial redesign might focus on improving specific areas, like the product pages or homepage, that will be quicker and more cost-effective.
   

2. Website size and complexity
   Another factor impacting the time you spend on your website redesign is its complexity and size. So, you should understand that large websites with custom-built functionalities, complex features, and more pages will take longer to revamp. Websites with custom integrations, e-commerce features, and hundreds of pages can take months. If you ponder more intricate functionalities like legacy systems, databases, or custom APIs, then you spend more time on integration, troubleshooting, and testing. With a small site containing a few pages, you can spend just several weeks to overhaul it. 
   

3. Design and development process
   You should keep in mind the design and development stages when pondering how much time a redesign website process may take. The time spent in these stages depends on the quality of the design and the project’s complexity. A website redesign usually starts with a discovery phase, within which designers research your goals, competitors, and audience. Once the research is over and the website development process strategy is ready, the design phase comes into play. You or your design team create mockups and wireframes for a client. Upon a client's approval, you update your site and integrate all the necessary functionalities. Based on approved designs, you build the structure of your website and customize the required pages. This way, you can rest assured that everything aligns with your vision and start testing the website design. With positive quality assurance tests, the developers launch the website. 
   
   The steps involved in the design process take time according to the project’s specifics. If you create a complex site, it will take more time. Collaboration with project managers, content creators, developers, and designers also affects the duration of the redesign project. If you hire experts or turn to a design agency to renovate your website, it will help you save time, as you won’t need to dive into the details. However, it will increase the average cost for website redesign projects. 
   

4. Testing and quality assurance
   After the design and development are completed, thorough testing is required. This includes cross-browser testing, mobile optimization checks, user experience reviews, and performance assessments. Quality assurance ensures that everything works as intended and that the site is responsive, fast, and bug-free. This process can take time, especially for larger sites with various user flows and complex interactions. It’s essential not to rush this phase, as testing helps avoid potential user frustrations and operational issues post-launch.
   

5. Content migration and SEO considerations
   One critical, often time-consuming part of the redesign process is migrating existing content to the new site and ensuring that SEO is maintained or improved. This includes transferring images, product descriptions, blog posts, and other vital assets. You should make an effort to avoid losing SEO rankings during the transition by implementing 301 redirects, optimizing page content for better performance, and fixing broken links.
   

6. Team and resources involved

   The last factor impacting the timeline of your redesign project is resource allocation. The expertise and size of your team and the quality of other resources can alter the duration of the website redesign. If you hire a design agency or have a large in-house team to upgrade your site, you will get your website redesigned swiftly. With specialized roles like SEO implementation experts, back-end developers, front-end developers, and UX/UI designers, your team can refresh your site more efficiently and speed up the redesign process. At the same time, a more minor team will need more time to perform all the tasks and reach the desired result. Here, you evaluate what suits you and your budget better. 

   Also, don’t forget about collaboration between IT and marketing teams, as it is vital to ensure all are on one track. This way, you will save time, and rest assured that the website redesign aligns with your business targets.

Typical website redesign timelines

When looking at various website relaunch guides, you may encounter different information about how much time a site redesign takes. Usually, they state that it takes from four weeks to six months. Every project is unique and requires a custom approach, meaning that designers adjust the timeline appropriately. Web design phases may differ. Front-end and back-end development and content migration take time based on your team's expertise, skills, and experience. The more proficient your designers are, the more chances you will get your project finished sooner. However, the complexity and the size of your website impact the timeline the most. 

Let’s explore typical website redesign timeframes so that you can evaluate approximately how much time your redesign project may take.  

1. Small website
   A small website, such as a personal blog, typically has a simple structure with a few key pages (e.g., homepage, about us, services, and contact). For a small website, the redesign process usually takes four to six weeks. This timeframe allows for design, development, testing, and content migration, assuming there are no major custom features or complexities involved.
   

2. Medium website
   Medium-sized websites, such as corporate websites or those for small-to-medium businesses, tend to have more pages and additional functionality (e.g., service listings, blogs, case studies). The redesign of such a site typically takes 8–12 weeks, depending on the number of stakeholders involved, the complexity of the design, and the resources available.
   

3. Large website
   Large websites, especially those that involve e-commerce or custom-built features (like CRMs, payment integrations, or membership portals), are more complex and typically require four to over six months for a complete redesign. This extended timeline accounts for additional planning, design work, back-end development, extensive testing, content migration, and SEO implementation.

Steps in the website redesign process

Now you know the standard website redesign timelines. However, you can’t entirely rely on those typical timeframes. You should deeply understand your project and know the steps involved in the website redesign process. By keeping in mind the main redesign phases, you can estimate how much time your project will require. So, let’s delve deeper into the steps for web redesign. 

First, you take time to evaluate the goals of your startup or business. The thorough project scope and planning play a significant role in the project’s success and enable you to control the time spent on the redesign. You should analyze the competitors and target audience. This way, you set viable and clear expectations for your project. You determine the requirements for the content creation during a website redesign and define what values your refreshed website should reflect. 

Next, the design phase takes place. This stage converts your vision and targets into user experience frameworks and visual direction. By using tools like Adobe Illustrator or Figma, you or your design experts create intuitive designs that can resonate with your niche. You work on mobile optimization, wireframing and prototyping and make your site accessible to everyone. You create meticulous mockups and craft the website structure to ensure your web design aligns with user experience best practices and brand identity. 

Once the design is elaborated, it’s time for development. You should build a new website architecture and integrate functionalities. This is the longest step in the whole redesign process. It can include security implementation, performance optimization, content management system setup, and custom feature development. At this stage, you start content migration and review progress with your stakeholders. You test the website for load speed, browser compatibility, and mobile responsiveness and address any performance issues or bugs. If everything is all right, you launch the new website and monitor it for any technical issues.

How to speed up the website redesign process

You shouldn’t sacrifice the quality, but you can still optimize your website redesign workflow. When redesigning your site and making the maximum out of your vision, you can speed up the web redesign process by following several smart approaches. For instance, you start content creation simultaneously with the development and design phases. By assigning dedicated teams to work on content parallel to developers and design experts, you may avoid content-related delays and save several weeks in your redesign timeline. 

Setting clear expectations also helps you to speed up the overall redesign process. You start with a well-defined scope and don’t waste time on unnecessary steps. Additionally, focus on making wise and quick decisions. Streamlining your decision-making enables you to shorten the planning phase. You can shape a clear approval hierarchy for your project aspects. You set specific timeframes for feedback rounds and limit the core decision-making team to key stakeholders. This way, you can achieve a more effective timeframe. 

Another approach to move faster in the redesign process is to concentrate on priorities and work on them, maintaining clear communication. You prioritize the most critical features and address non-essential elements in later phases. Also, you make an effort to provide seamless communication between all stakeholders and partners. Regular status updates and check-ins keep your project moving forward, enabling your team to align with your vision continuously.

Balancing speed with quality is key when redesigning a website. If you rush the redesign process too much, it can result in damage to your brand’s credibility, missed opportunities for optimization, and, lastly, poor user experience. When hurrying up, you can easily omit significant details. Meanwhile, prolonging the process is not a great idea either. In this case, you can lose your customers, who may begin to perceive your platform as untrustworthy or outdated. So, delaying the redesign process for too long doesn’t benefit your business. It hurts your brand visibility and reputation. 

To sum up

Above, we have listed multiple factors influencing the timeline of redesign projects, considered the main steps involved in the redesign process, and explained how setting clear goals and maintaining smooth communication can help you streamline the whole redesign project. Every redesign project requires a professional evaluation and a custom approach. Whether you plan to redesign a large e-commerce platform or just a small website for your career needs, you should invest time and expertise into your project.

Careful planning and patience will help you shape the perfect vision of your platform, while a professional website redesign service can build you a website that drives growth. Design experts like DreamX know the intricacies of redesign projects and have vast experience in redesigning websites for various niches. By working with a seasoned team, you can save time and get a result that exceeds your customers’ expectations. So, weigh all the perks and get your redesign project started right away!