A website does not have to be broken to need a redesign. Most of the time it is just doing less work than it should: visitors arrive, struggle on their phones, cannot find your number, and leave. Here are seven signs it is time to redesign, what to fix first, and how to avoid the most expensive redesign mistake, which is losing the Google rankings you already have.
Quick check: is it time?
If three or more of the seven signs below sound like your site, a redesign is probably worth the money. If only one or two do, small fixes may be enough. A redesign alone will not fix a missing foundation like a Google Business Profile.
1. It is awkward to use on a phone
DataReportal counted 85.5 million cellular mobile connections in Kenya in October 2026, which is 145 percent of the population (connections, not people, since many Kenyans carry more than one SIM). If you have to pinch and zoom to read your site, tap tiny links, or scroll sideways, you are losing the customers most likely to find you. Open your site on a phone you do not normally use and try to do one thing: call you, message you on WhatsApp, or find your prices.
2. It is slow
Google’s targets for a good experience are a Largest Contentful Paint of 2.5 seconds or less, an Interaction to Next Paint of 200 milliseconds or less and a Cumulative Layout Shift of 0.1 or less. Run your homepage through PageSpeed Insights for free. If the mobile result is poor, the cause is often oversized images, too many plugins, heavy sliders or weak hosting. Those are fixes, and sometimes a redesign is the cleanest way to make them. Our guide to Core Web Vitals in Kenya explains how to test your site and what to fix first.
3. The information is out of date
Old prices, services you no longer offer, a phone number that has changed, staff who left two years ago, or a “next event” that already happened. This hurts trust faster than a dated design does. Check every page and make a list.
4. Nobody knows what to do next
Every page should lead to one clear action: call, WhatsApp, request a quote, or book a visit. If your site only tells people who you are and never asks them to do anything, it works like a brochure. A redesign built around the single action you want, placed where visitors will see it, often lifts enquiries more than a prettier layout.
5. Google is not showing you
Search for your business name, then for what you do plus your town. If you are missing, check the basics first: does each page have its own title and description, is the site in Google Search Console, and does your Google Business Profile match the details on the site? Our guide to setting up a Google Business Profile in Kenya covers the second half. A redesign alone will not fix a missing foundation.
6. It does not look trustworthy
Warning signs include a browser “Not secure” label, broken links and missing images, no clear contact details, stock photos of people who are obviously not your team, and a layout that looks like it was built a decade ago. People judge whether to trust a business in seconds, and a poor first impression is rarely forgiven.
7. You cannot update it, or you are afraid to
If changing a price needs a phone call to someone who takes a week, or the site is running outdated software that nobody maintains, that is both a business problem and a security risk. Out-of-date websites are easy targets. A redesign should leave you able to make simple edits yourself and with a clear maintenance plan behind the site.
Redesign or small fixes?
Not every problem needs a rebuild. As a rough guide:
🔧
Fix in place
The structure is sound and the problems are speed, a few outdated pages, or missing titles and descriptions.
🏗️
Redesign
It fails on phones, pages lead nowhere, the software is outdated beyond repair, or the site no longer matches how you do business.
🎯
Landing page first
You mainly need enquiries from ads. See our comparison of a landing page and a full website.
How to redesign without losing your Google rankings
A new design does not remove the value your old pages have built. Many businesses lose traffic after a redesign because the new site throws it away. Protect it:
1List your current pages and which ones bring visitors. Search Console shows this for free.
2Keep the page addresses (URLs) that work. If an address must change, set up a permanent 301 redirect from the old one to the new one.
3Carry over good page titles and descriptions instead of starting from blank.
4Keep content that already answers real questions, and improve it rather than deleting it.
5Test on real phones before launch, including forms and your WhatsApp button.
6Submit the sitemap again after launch and watch Search Console for errors for the first few weeks.
⚠️ Set honest expectations
A redesign makes a site easier to use and often easier for Google to read, but a prettier site does not by itself push you up the search results. Better content, a proper Google Business Profile and a clear next step for visitors do much of the work.
💰 What it costs
Prices depend on how many pages you have, whether you need new text and photos, and whether the work includes online payments or bookings. Our guide to website design prices in Kenya breaks down typical ranges so you can judge a quote. When you are ready to hire, use our ten questions to ask a web designer in Nairobi.
NOT SURE WHICH CATEGORY YOU ARE IN?
We Can Tell You Quickly
Our free website and marketing audit checks speed, mobile layout, search visibility and tracking, then sends a short report with the top fixes. If it points to a redesign, we can help with that too.
Sources: DataReportal, Digital 2027: Kenya (mobile connections, October 2026); Google and web.dev Core Web Vitals thresholds.
