TL;DR: A website redesign for a small US business usually costs $300 to $1,500 if you rebuild it yourself on a builder template, $1,000 to $5,000 with a freelancer or small studio, and $5,000 to $25,000+ with an agency, according to one design studio’s 2026 estimate. The hard part isn’t the new look. It’s carrying over your real content and not losing Google along the way. With WebZum you paste your current website, and it builds a brand-new multi-page site from your real business info and your best photos in about five minutes. You can see it free before you pay, then it’s $19/mo or $34/mo, month to month.
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Disclosure: WebZum publishes this blog and makes an AI website builder. Prices for other routes come from the sources linked inline, and estimates from other companies are labeled as theirs.
Verified October 30, 2026. Prices are US list prices and can change.
Do you need a redesign or just a refresh?
If the problem is a few wrong details, you need a refresh. If the site looks dated on a phone, doesn’t say clearly what you do, or never makes the phone ring, you need a redesign.
A quick way to tell:
- Refresh if your hours, prices, services or photos are out of date but the layout still works and people still call from it.
- Redesign if you’re embarrassed to send people to it, it’s hard to read on a phone, it’s missing pages for the services you actually sell, or you can’t remember the login to change anything.
Most owners who search “website redesign” are in the second group. The rest of this post is for them.
What does a website redesign cost?
It depends almost entirely on who does the work. Rebuilt Studio, a design studio, puts 2026 US small-business redesigns in three bands: “$300–$1,500 for a builder template (Wix, Squarespace, GoDaddy) you fill in yourself; $1,000–$5,000 for a fixed-scope custom build from a small studio or freelancer; and $5,000–$25,000+ for an agency-led project with strategy and stakeholder review” (Rebuilt Studio). That’s one studio’s estimate, not an industry survey, but it lines up with what freelancers charge.
On Upwork, the company’s own data puts web designers’ median rates at $15 to $30 an hour, with full custom design at $45 to $75+ an hour, and it says to expect “anywhere from 10 hours for a very small design project to several dozen hours” for a large custom one (Upwork). For context on why agency quotes run high, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the median annual wage for web and digital interface designers at $104,000 (May 2025) (BLS).
| Route | Typical cost | Time to a new site | What you do yourself | What carries over from the old site |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DIY on your current builder | $300–$1,500 (Rebuilt Studio estimate) plus your plan | Days to weeks of evenings | Everything: pick a template, rewrite, re-place photos | What you copy by hand (see the Wix and Squarespace limits below) |
| Freelancer or small studio | $1,000–$5,000 (Rebuilt Studio estimate) | Weeks | Send copy, photos, feedback | Whatever you hand them |
| Agency | $5,000–$25,000+ (Rebuilt Studio estimate) | Weeks to months | Meetings and reviews | Planned in their project scope |
| WebZum | $19/mo Basic or $34/mo Professional, month to month | About 5 minutes to a finished preview | Paste your site, answer a few questions, review | Your business details and up to 12 of your own photos, with all-new copy |
We cover hiring a designer in more depth in AI website builder vs hiring a web designer, and new-site budgets in how much a small business website costs.
Can you redesign a Wix or Squarespace site without starting over?
Not really. Both make a real redesign close to a rebuild.
Wix: Wix’s help center says “it’s not possible to switch to a different template for a site you already created.” To change templates you start a new site, copy elements and pages across, import your media, then move your plan and domain. Things that can’t come along include your “site theme, design and layout,” Contacts, Wix Bookings, Wix Stores, Wix Invoices and email marketing (Wix Help: switching your site template). Wix also warns that “changing to a new site template can affect your site’s SEO” (Wix Help: getting a new template).
Squarespace: older 7.0 sites can use an update tool to move to version 7.1, but Squarespace says “updating your site to version 7.1 is permanent,” you “can’t revert to version 7.0,” the site needs 150 pages or fewer, and “your site might look different after updating” (Squarespace Help: update tool). If you move by hand instead, products can come over by .csv, “but other content you’ll need to recreate manually,” and the new site starts on a 14-day trial (Squarespace Help: manual move).
So on either platform, a new look mostly means re-entering your business by hand. Price details for both are in our Wix pricing and Squarespace pricing breakdowns.
How do you switch to a new site without losing Google rankings?
Keep the same domain, keep your key pages, and expect a few weeks of wobble. Google says plainly that “no one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google” (Google Search Central), and that’s true of any redesign, ours included.
What Google does tell site owners:
- Redirects keep your link value. When page addresses change, Google recommends server-side permanent redirects from old URLs to new ones and says “301 and other permanent redirects don’t cause a loss in PageRank” (Google: site moves with URL changes).
- Some movement is normal. The same page says to “expect temporary fluctuation in site ranking during the move,” and that “a small to medium-sized website can take a few weeks for most pages to move.”
- Update your Business Profile if the address changes. Your Google Business Profile has its own website field, which takes the full URL including “https://” (Google Business Profile Help). If you keep the same domain, there’s nothing to change. Our guide to listing your business on Google walks through the profile.
The secret most redesign quotes skip: for a small local business, your homepage and your Google Business Profile do most of the work. Before you switch, look in Google Search Console for any old inner page that actually gets clicks, and make sure the new site has a page that covers the same thing. To see how long Google takes to pick up the new pages, read how long Google takes to index a new website.
How does a WebZum redesign work?
You paste your current website address into the build chat, and WebZum builds a new site from what’s already true about your business. Here’s what happens, based on how the product works today:
- Paste your site. Type or paste your website address where it asks for your business name or website. Use a site you own or have the rights to.
- It reads up to five pages. WebZum reads your homepage plus up to four linked pages like About, Services and Contact. It treats your old site as the source of truth for your business name, services, story, team and contact details.
- It keeps your best photos. It keeps up to 12 of your own photos that pass a quality check (at least 400×300 pixels, no near-duplicates, nothing off-topic), and stores copies on WebZum so your new site doesn’t depend on the old host.
- It writes all-new pages. The copy is new, not a word-for-word copy of the old site. A short chat of about four questions fills gaps, and the build takes about five minutes.
- Your old site stays up. Nothing changes at your old host. The new site is a free 30-day preview at a WebZum address until you decide.
- Fix anything by asking. Upload your logo in the editor, ask for your brand colors (“teal as the main color and orange for buttons”), or ask it to fix a wrong line. It shows what it’ll change and waits for you to tap.
What it doesn’t do, so you can plan around it:
- It doesn’t import your logo. Upload it, or let WebZum design one.
- It doesn’t keep your old page addresses or set up redirects from them. If an old inner page gets real Google traffic, note it before you switch (see the section above).
- Some sites can’t be read. Sites that only render with JavaScript, or that sit behind a “verify you are human” wall, can’t be read. The build still runs, using what WebZum finds about your business on the web.
When you’re ready to go live on your own domain, Professional ($34/mo) connects a domain you already own, or WebZum registers one for you. When you bring a domain, WebZum copies your existing email records into the new setup so your email keeps working in most cases. Basic ($19/mo) publishes on a WebZum address. Every plan has a 30-day money-back guarantee.
If you’ve already built with WebZum and just want a different look, that’s a different job: see regenerating your website with AI.
When should you hire an agency instead?
Hire an agency or a developer if your site is mainly an online store with a big catalog, runs custom software like a customer portal or quoting tool, or is part of a full rebrand with a new name and identity. Those projects need strategy and custom code, and that’s what the $5,000 to $25,000+ band pays for.
For a service business that needs a sharp, fast site that explains what you do and gets people to call, you don’t need that budget. You need the site done right, and most of that is your real details, your real photos and clear pages, which is what a WebZum rebuild starts from. If you’re weighing price against quality, our take on why cheap AI websites look cheap is worth a read.
FAQ
What is a website redesign?
A website redesign is rebuilding your site’s look, structure and content so it works better for visitors and search, usually keeping the same domain. For a small business it often means new pages, rewritten copy, a phone-friendly layout and better photos.
How much does it cost to redesign a website?
For a small US business, one design studio’s 2026 estimate is $300 to $1,500 doing it yourself on a builder, $1,000 to $5,000 with a freelancer or small studio, and $5,000 to $25,000+ with an agency (Rebuilt Studio). WebZum is $19/mo or $34/mo, month to month, after a free preview.
Will a website redesign hurt my SEO?
It can wobble for a few weeks. Google says to expect temporary ranking changes during a move and recommends permanent redirects when page addresses change (Google). Keeping the same domain and covering the topics of your best old pages limits the risk.
Can I redesign my Wix site without starting over?
No. Wix says you can’t switch templates on an existing site; you build a new one and move content, plan and domain across, and some things like bookings and store data don’t transfer (Wix Help).
How long does a website redesign take?
With a freelancer or agency, weeks to months. Doing it yourself on a builder, days to weeks of evenings. A WebZum rebuild from your current site takes about five minutes to a finished preview, plus whatever time you spend reviewing it.
Is my old website still live while I preview the new one?
Yes. WebZum doesn’t touch your old host. Your new site sits on a free preview address until you choose to publish and point your domain to it.
See your redesign before you spend anything
Paste your current website, answer a few questions, and look at a finished new site in about five minutes. If you like it, publish for $19/mo, or $34/mo with your own domain. If not, you’ve lost nothing.