Website Redesign
Website redesign for mid-sized companies
We rebuild your company website from the ground up: faster to load, editable in minutes instead of hours, and readable for the AI systems your customers now ask before they ask you. In German you would call this a website relaunch. What matters more than the label is this: fixed prices, a defined destination for every URL you have today, and a measurement taken before we start, so you can see afterwards what changed.
For business customers. All prices net of VAT. We are Collective Brain, a creative and AI marketing agency based in Hamburg, Germany.
You need a redesign if this sounds familiar
Most companies do not decide to rebuild. They notice, one symptom at a time, that the site has stopped working. These are the seven we hear most often.
- The site is more than four years old and has only been patched since. Every new requirement was bolted on.
- Mobile is broken in places. Layouts jump, text is too small, forms are painful on a phone. More than half your visitors see this version.
- Your page speed report is red. Core Web Vitals fail, and every fix so far moved the number briefly and then it slid back.
- New business comes through referrals, almost never through the website.
- Publishing a change takes days. A new job posting means an email to an agency and a wait.
- You postpone updates because you are afraid something will break. So nobody touches the site, so it ages faster.
- Your company does not appear when someone asks ChatGPT, Perplexity or Google AI Overviews for a supplier like you.
One of these is a task. Four of them are a redesign.
When a redesign is not worth it
We would rather say this before you spend the money than after.
- Your site is two years old and technically sound. Then reworking individual pages is cheaper and faster, and we will tell you which ones.
- The real problem is that nobody is selling. A new website does not replace a sales function.
- There is nobody on your side who can supply or approve content. Redesigns stall on approvals, not on technology.
- You are looking for the cheapest option. That is a legitimate decision, and we are not the right provider for it.
Why we build static sites instead of WordPress
A classic WordPress site assembles every page from scratch on every single request: database queries, plugins, templates, all of it, while your visitor waits. We build the pages once, when you publish, and then serve finished files. Four consequences follow, and one of them is a limitation.
AI systems read your site differently than a browser does
A browser runs JavaScript and finishes assembling the page. Many AI crawlers do not. They read the source code that was delivered, and whatever your visitors only see after scripts have run may simply be absent from what the model gets. When a site is delivered as finished HTML, the content is there in the source, in order, with its structure intact. That is the difference between being legible and hoping to be legible.
What changes in load time
Finished pages do not have to be calculated. They come out of the cache of a content delivery network, from a server near your visitor. That removes the database, the plugin chain and the render step from the critical path. It also removes most of the reasons a page gets slower again six months after launch. How large the difference is in your case depends on where you start, which is exactly why we measure it first.
What changes in day-to-day operation
No plugin zoo demanding security updates every week. No attack surface through an outdated extension somebody installed in 2021 for one landing page. Hosting costs drop because serving files is cheap compared to running an application. Your editors still work in a CMS with visual preview. They just do not carry the maintenance burden of one.
What this approach cannot do
It is not the right answer for everything, and pretending otherwise would cost you money. For applications with personal user areas, live data or complex shop functionality, a classic system is often the better choice, and we will say so in the audit rather than force the architecture. Very large sites beyond roughly 50,000 individual pages make the build process uneconomical. If you are in either case, we will tell you in week one, not week ten.
What is included in a website redesign
Migration and search continuity
We capture every URL you have today, including the ones nobody remembers. Each old address gets a destination that matches it thematically, instead of a blanket redirect to the homepage. That single decision is the most common cause of traffic loss after a rebuild, and it is entirely avoidable.
Technical foundation
Statically delivered pages, images in modern formats, clean markup for search engines, and a sitemap that reflects reality. Core Web Vitals are treated as a build requirement, not as a post-launch cleanup.
Visibility in Google and in AI systems
Structured data, question-and-answer structures on the pages that carry commercial weight, and content that is fully present in the source code. We also record whether and how your company currently appears in AI answers, so the topic has a number attached to it.
Accessibility
We build to WCAG 2.1 AA: keyboard operation, contrast, labels, structure, focus states. You receive documentation of what was implemented and where limits remain, which is the part most providers skip.
Editing and handover
A CMS with visual preview, training on your real content rather than demo data, and a written style guide for editors. The repository and all credentials are yours.
Measurement
A baseline before the project starts and a report 90 days after launch, using the same metrics. Without numbers that existed beforehand, everyone ends up arguing about taste.
How a website redesign runs
- 01
Audit and baseline measurement
We record your current state completely: every URL, current rankings, load times, visibility in AI answers, and the technical state of accessibility. The result is a document with a date on it, which is what we measure against later. Roughly 2 weeks.
- 02
Concept and design system
We define structure, content components and visual design, building on your existing brand rather than replacing it. You review real pages, not mood boards. Roughly 3 to 4 weeks.
- 03
Build and migration
We build the site, move your content and give every old address a matching destination. The redirect map grows alongside and you sign it off. Roughly 4 to 8 weeks.
- 04
Launch and monitoring
After the switch we check indexing, redirects and error pages daily. We stay close during the first week because that is when problems surface if anyone is watching.
- 05
Report after 90 days
We put the baseline numbers next to the current ones and talk through what follows from them.
Packages and prices
Fixed prices instead of timesheets. All figures net of VAT, for business customers only. These are the sizes that fit mid-sized companies, the segment Germany calls the Mittelstand.
Redesign Compact
€18,500 net
For companies with 20 to 100 employees, one language, and a site whose content is fundamentally sound but whose technology is not.
- Up to 15 page templates
- Migration of up to 80 existing pages
- Content system with visual preview
- Complete redirect map
- Two editorial training sessions
- Typically 10 to 12 weeks
Most chosen
Redesign Pro
€36,500 net
For companies with 50 to 300 employees, several business areas, and a recruiting need that the current site does not serve.
- Everything in Compact
- Positioning workshop with the management team
- Up to 35 page templates
- New copy for the 12 most important pages
- Migration of up to 250 existing pages
- Integration with CRM, newsletter or applicant tracking
- Monthly monitoring of visibility in AI answers
- Typically 14 to 18 weeks
Redesign Enterprise
from €59,000 net
For companies with several brands, locations or languages, and data sources that need to reach the website.
- Everything in Pro
- A discovery phase up front that ends in a binding fixed price
- Multiple languages including translation workflow
- Integrations with ERP, PIM or product data
- Roles and approval concept for the editorial team
- Component library your own IT can take over
- From 20 weeks
After launch
Optional, and only alongside a project. 12-month minimum, then month to month.
Hosting, updates, monitoring, backups, one hour of changes per month.
Operations plus ongoing measurement in Google and AI systems, and optimization of two to four pages per month.
Visibility plus an editorial plan, two to three pieces of content per month, and a named contact.
Prefer to run it yourself? Then you get the repository, the documentation and every access credential, and you run the site yourself. There is no technical lock-in.
Where it starts: the redesign audit
€2,900 net
Nobody buys a five-figure project from a checkout button, and we do not sell it that way. The entry point is a paid audit of your current site. It takes about ten working days and is credited in full if you commission a project within six months.
- Complete capture of your pages, URLs and content
- Baseline measurement: rankings, load times, visibility in AI answers, recorded with a date
- Technical assessment of accessibility against WCAG 2.1 AA
- Content assessment: what stays, what gets reworked, what gets redirected
- A written report, a presentation, and a specific proposal
Frequently asked questions about website redesigns
How much does a website redesign cost?
A redesign with us starts at €18,500 net as a fixed price. That covers a company site with up to 15 page templates and the migration of up to 80 existing pages. The mid-range scope, including positioning work, new copy for the most important pages and a system integration, is €36,500 net. Larger projects with several languages, locations or data sources start at €59,000 net. All prices are net of VAT and our offer is for business customers only.
Will we lose our Google rankings?
This is the most common worry, and it is a fair one. Ranking losses after a rebuild almost always come from the same handful of mistakes: missing or blanket redirects, content that quietly disappeared, and a changed structure nobody mapped. So we measure your current state before the project, give every old address a destination that matches it thematically instead of pointing everything at the homepage, and check indexing daily after launch. Nobody can responsibly promise future positions because Google decides them and we do not. What we do commit to is closing the avoidable causes and showing you in the report what actually changed.
Why do you build on Astro instead of WordPress?
Astro ships finished HTML instead of assembling every page on every request. That makes the site faster, cuts hosting costs and removes most of the attack surface because there is no plugin chain running at request time. For findability a second point matters more: many AI crawlers do not execute JavaScript. They read the source that was delivered. Anything that only appears after scripts run may simply be absent from what the model sees. On a statically delivered site the content is all there, in order, with its structure intact.
What can Astro not do?
It is not the right answer for everything. Applications with personal user areas, live data or complex shop functionality are often better served by a classic system. Very large sites beyond roughly 50,000 individual pages make the build process uneconomical. And editors need a proper CMS with preview, otherwise daily work gets harder rather than easier. If your project falls into one of those cases, we will say so in week one instead of week ten.
Can our own team edit the site afterwards?
Yes, and we plan for it from the start. We connect a CMS with visual preview so nobody has to touch code. We train your people on your real content rather than on demo data, and you get a written style guide for editors that stays useful after the person who attended the session leaves. If something is awkward in daily use, that is a planning mistake on our side, not a user problem.
How long does a redesign take?
A compact redesign typically runs 10 to 12 weeks from kickoff, the mid-range scope 14 to 18 weeks, larger projects from 20 weeks. The most common delay is not technical. It is approvals and missing content on the client side, which is why we agree at the start who decides what and by when.
Does our website have to be accessible?
The European Accessibility Act has been in force since June 28, 2025 and affects a wide range of companies selling to consumers in the EU, with exemptions for microenterprises and differences in national implementation. Whether your company is covered is a legal question about your specific situation. We assess the technical state of your site against WCAG 2.1 AA, the internationally recognized reference standard, and we build the new site to it. A binding statement about your legal obligation belongs with your counsel, not with your web team.
What happens to our existing content?
It comes with you. During the audit we sort your inventory into three groups: pages that bring traffic and enquiries and move over unchanged, pages with substance that get reworked, and pages with no measurable effect that are redirected to a suitable destination. Nothing disappears unnoticed. Every decision sits in a list that you sign off.
How will we know whether the redesign achieved anything?
Because we measure beforehand. Before the project we record, with a date attached, where you stand in search, how fast the site loads, and whether your company shows up in answers from ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews. Ninety days after launch we put the same numbers side by side, including the ones that did not move the way we hoped.
What if we want to run the site ourselves after the project?
Then you get the repository, the documentation and every access credential, and you run it with your own team or another provider. There is no technical lock-in, no license key and no page builder that only works with us. Ongoing support is available if you want it, and optional if you do not.
We are on TYPO3, Drupal or Contao. Does that work too?
Yes. The path is the same as with WordPress: capture the inventory, export the content, map the URL structure, rebuild, redirect cleanly. TYPO3 projects often come with permission and approval workflows that have grown up over the years, and we mirror those in the new editorial setup. We work that out during the audit.
Can the whole project run in English?
Yes. Project management, documentation, training and the style guide for editors are available in English, and our team works in both languages daily. The website itself can be English only, German only, or both with a proper language setup rather than a bolted-on translation plugin.
Why work with you rather than a cheaper agency?
If what you want is a good-looking site at the lowest price, there are providers who do that well, and choosing one is a reasonable decision. Our offer pays off when the website is supposed to generate enquiries and when losing rankings would cost real money. Then it matters that someone has done the migration many times, measures beforehand and can show afterwards what happened. For a pure cost-saving exercise we are the wrong partner, and we would rather say that before the proposal than after.
Examples of our work are on selected work. If your question is about being found in AI answers rather than in Google, start with how AI visibility works. For automation and AI agents, see AI consulting and automation.