A lot of the brands that ask us for a new website don't need one.
They need four or five things fixed, and they've been staring at the site so long it all looks broken.
We rebuilt our own site this fall and moved it off Squarespace, so this one's fresh. For us it had to be a full rebuild. For most brands that call us, it doesn't.
Start with the numbers
Before you decide anything, pull three numbers from your analytics.
Conversion rate. Littledata tracked 426 Shopify stores over the 90 days up to October 3, 2026, and the median conversion rate was 1.4%. The top 20% converted above 2.7% and the top 10% at 3.5% or higher (Littledata). Under 0.5% puts you in the bottom fifth.
Mobile vs desktop. In that same data the median is 1.5% on both. The top 10% do better on desktop though (5.3% vs 4.0%), so some gap is normal. If your mobile number is way below desktop, start looking at the mobile experience.
Speed. In a 2020 report for Google, Deloitte looked at 15 retail brands in late 2019 and found that a 0.1 second improvement in mobile site speed went along with 8.4% more conversions and 9.2% higher average order value (Google and Deloitte, Milliseconds Make Millions). Run your site through PageSpeed Insights. Slow sites usually come down to big image files or too many apps, and you can fix both without a redesign.
When a refresh is enough
A refresh keeps your structure and platform and fixes what's on top. It's the right call when the site works and converts somewhere around the median but looks dated next to your packaging or your feed. New photography, updated type and color, rewritten product pages and a new homepage will get you most of the way.
It's also enough when the bones are fine and a few pages leak. Maybe your product pages need more photos, or shipping costs only show up at checkout. Fix those first and see what the numbers do.
And if you just updated your look but the strategy hasn't changed, carry the new identity onto the existing site before you rebuild anything.
When you need the full redesign
You've outgrown the platform. You're fighting your site builder for basic stuff or paying for a pile of apps to cover what it can't do.
What you sell has changed. Maybe you added a subscription or wholesale since the site went up. A refresh won't fix a site that was built around a different business.
Nobody on your team can update it. If swapping a banner means emailing a developer, it's not going to happen often.
You're in the bottom fifth on conversion and speed fixes didn't move it.
The second one was us. Our old site went up back when we were a design studio, and Beyond Bright does a lot more than design now. We needed room to show work from all our services, so we started over.
Questions to ask before either one
Who's going to update this every week? Build it so they can do it without calling anyone. And figure out what visitors need to do on the site, whether that's shop, sign up or find a stockist.
What photos do you have? If you're redesigning with your old photos, it's going to be hard to make it feel new, so plan the shoot alongside the build.
What has to keep working? Redirects for old URLs, password pages, email signup forms and analytics. We still have a few password-protected pages running on Squarespace, and that's on purpose.
How we handle it
sound like you?
Not sure which one you need?
At Beyond Bright web design sits next to content and strategy, so most refreshes we do come with a photo shoot, and every redesign starts with us asking what you need people to do on the site. If you're not sure which one you need, start a project and send us your URL.
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Written by
Hana Brenner-Katz is the founder and creative director of Beyond Bright Creative. She started her own design studio in 2018 and turned it into a full-service agency in 2023.
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