Does your website need a redesign, or just fixes?

Why not start with a redesign

A new website feels like progress. Sometimes it is. But a redesign is also the easiest way to lose what already works: the pages Google has indexed, the searches you already show up for, the form your regulars know. Google’s own guidance on moving a site to new web addresses says to “expect temporary fluctuation in site ranking during the move.”

So start with the problem, not the solution. Common complaints like “customers can’t find our number” or “it looks old on phones” have specific causes. Some take ten minutes to fix. Some really do need a new site. The checks below tell you which.

What we found on El Paso sites

On October 24, 2026, we tested the home pages of 23 El Paso small businesses with their own websites, across plumbing, electrical, HVAC, roofing, dental, auto repair, landscaping, and cleaning or pest control (24 picked, one blocked our test). We took the first independent local businesses from a “best rated” directory list for each trade (topping up two trades from the next list), skipped national chains, and measured each page the same way.

The good news: every site used HTTPS, and on our fast connection 21 of 22 showed their main content within 2.5 seconds. Run PageSpeed Insights on your own site for the mobile picture, which is usually slower. The gaps were smaller and fixable. Four had no tap-to-call link on the home page. Six had home page titles that were just “Home” or the business name; Google specifically advises against vague titles like “Home” and asks for titles that describe the page. And 13 of 22 home pages were over 2 MB, a line we drew ourselves, not a Google rule; PageSpeed Insights can show what’s heavy, item by item. None of those calls for a new website.

One number stands out for El Paso. Only 2 of the 23 offered a Spanish version, both through an automatic translation switch, and we found no home page that said staff speak Spanish. That doesn’t mean they don’t; it may simply not be on the page. In a city where the Census Bureau reports 65.9% of residents age 5 and over speak a language other than English at home, saying so is worth a line on your home page. If you want full Spanish pages, that’s the kind of change that can justify a refresh.

Run the eight checks

Each check takes a minute or two on your own phone. Open “How to check” for the steps. Then answer four questions about your business, and the tool recommends fixing, refreshing or rebuilding, with a to-do list in order.

Fix, refresh or rebuild

These three words get used loosely. Here’s how we use them, so you can compare quotes on the same terms:

The fix that can’t wait: HTTPS

HTTPS is the secure connection behind the padlock in the address bar. In October 2025, Google’s Chrome security team announced that Chrome would switch on “Always Use Secure Connections” by default, which means Chrome “will ask for the user’s permission before the first access to any public site without HTTPS.” Chrome 154, released September 22, 2026, made it the default: Chrome now prompts users when they connect to a site over an insecure http connection.

For a business, that prompt is a customer deciding whether to trust you before they’ve seen your page. Most hosts and website builders can turn HTTPS on in their settings, and redirect http:// to https:// automatically. It’s a fix, not a redesign.

Phones and speed

Google uses the mobile version of a site’s content for indexing and ranking, and asks that it contain the same content as the desktop version. Two things decide whether a site works on a phone at all:

• A viewport tag. One line in the page’s code tells phones to fit the page to the screen. Without it, web.dev says, a page “loads very zoomed out, making the text hard to read.” If your site has that problem, the layout predates phones, and that usually means a refresh.
• Your own phone. Google retired Search Console’s Mobile Usability report and its Mobile-Friendly Test in December 2023, adding that this “doesn’t mean that mobile usability isn’t important.” There’s no Google report to check anymore. Check on a real phone.

For speed, Google’s Core Web Vitals set the targets: main content within 2.5 seconds, a response to taps within 200 milliseconds, and a layout that doesn’t jump (0.1 or less). PageSpeed Insights shows real-visitor data from the last 28 days when Google has enough of it; many small sites only get the lab test, which is still useful.

Redesign without losing what works

If the checks point to a rebuild, these steps protect what Google already knows about your site. They follow Google’s own guidance on site moves.

Search Console’s Change of Address tool is only for moving to a new domain. You don’t need it for a redesign on the same domain, or for switching from http to https. And before you sign with anyone, read our guide to hiring a web designer, and make sure the new site, domain and logins stay in your name, as our login guide explains.

Build it accessible

A rebuild is the cheapest moment to get accessibility right. The Justice Department’s guidance says the ADA covers businesses open to the public, including what they offer online, and names WCAG as a helpful standard. In the current version, WCAG 2.2, two requirements catch many older designs: text contrast of at least 4.5:1, and tap targets of at least 24 by 24 CSS pixels, with some exceptions. Ask your designer which standard they build to.

What a new site should include is in our five-page website guide. Once it’s live, our maintenance checklist keeps it from drifting back.