Rebuild or Migrate Your Website: How to Tell Which
Migrate your site when its pages, content and structure still match how you sell, and rebuild it when they no longer do. For a 4-7 page business website both jobs are priced as step 03, EUR 1.500-3.500, but a migration sits toward the lower end of that range because the page structure, the copy and the list of addresses already exist and nobody has to decide them again.
What the two words mean here:
- Migrate: move what you have to a new platform or codebase. The pages, the copy, the images and the web addresses carry over. The templates are built new, and can stay close to the current look.
- Rebuild: start the site again. New page structure, new copy, new design, and sometimes features the old site never had.
The case for migrating
Templates have to be built in both cases, so the saving is not in the code. It is in everything around the code.
- The decisions are already made. Which pages exist, what order they sit in, what each one says. In a rebuild every one of those is open again, and every one needs an answer from you.
- The content exists. Moving text and images is mechanical work. Writing new copy for seven pages is not, and it is the part that waits on you.
- Your addresses keep working. If pages already bring visitors from Google, a migration keeps their URLs where it can and redirects the rest. A rebuild that changes the structure needs a full redirect map, and Google has to find and reassess every page that moved.
- The scope has an edge. The current site is the specification. A rebuild invites every idea that has piled up since the last one, and each idea is a line on the quote.
The honest limit: a migration copies the problems along with everything else. If visitors cannot find your prices, or the site describes services you stopped offering, moving it to a better platform gives you the same site that does not work, running faster.
The case for rebuilding
Rebuild when the site is wrong rather than old. The business has changed shape: new services, a new audience, a new name, or a way of selling the old site was never designed for. Or the structure fights your visitors, with the booking link you care about buried under pages that exist because they always have. In a rebuild the design decisions are the job, and how we make them is on design and engineering.
A rebuild is also the answer when you need something the current site cannot hold. Customer logins, a dashboard, a link to your CRM, or payments on the site move the job to step 04, EUR 3.500-7.500 over 6-12 weeks. Your content may still carry over. The old templates will not.
How to tell which one your site needs
| What you see | Points to | Why |
|---|---|---|
| The admin is slow, updates break things, or the platform limits what you can change | Migrate | The platform is the problem, not the pages |
| Your pages still describe what you sell, accurately | Migrate | The content is the slow part to produce, and it is done |
| Pages bring visitors from Google today | Migrate, carefully | Keeping addresses protects what already works |
| Your services, audience or name have changed | Rebuild | Moving outdated pages means paying to move text you will replace |
| Visitors cannot find the thing you want them to do | Rebuild | The structure is the problem, and a migration keeps it |
| You need logins, a dashboard, a CRM link or payments | Rebuild at step 04 | The old site was not built to hold them |
Answers can point both ways. If the platform is failing and two pages are also wrong, migrate and rewrite those two pages inside the same job.
What moves the price
The step is set by what the finished site does, whichever route gets you there.
| Your site | Step | Price | Build time |
|---|---|---|---|
| One page | 01 Single-page landing | EUR 600-900 | 1-2 weeks |
| 2-3 pages with a contact flow | 02 Mini-site | EUR 900-1.500 | 2-3 weeks |
| 4-7 pages, CMS, booking or contact | 03 Business website | EUR 1.500-3.500 | 3-6 weeks |
| Login, dashboard, API, CRM, payments | 04 Advanced site or web app | EUR 3.500-7.500 | 6-12 weeks |
| Auth, billing and admin as the product | 05 Custom SaaS platform | from EUR 7.500 | after discovery |
Inside a step, these decide where your quote lands:
- Page types, not page count. Seven service pages on one template are less work than seven pages with seven layouts.
- What the old platform lets you export. A clean export moves in bulk, anything else moves by hand.
- Copy that has to be written. In a migration, little. In a rebuild, possibly all of it.
- Languages. Each one is another copy of every page to move, check and redirect.
How the work runs
- Inventory. Every URL on the current site, which ones bring visitors (Search Console and your analytics show this), every form, and every tool the site connects to.
- Decision. Migrate, rebuild, or migrate and rewrite a few pages. A fixed quote always follows scoping.
- Build. Templates, content moved or written, and a redirect map from every old address that changes to its new one. We build in Next.js, covered on our Next.js page.
- Launch. DNS switched, redirects live, the new sitemap submitted and indexation checked.
- After. Care at EUR 100-300/mo if you want it: updates, monitoring, backups and small fixes. It does not cover redesign or new features.
A migration and a rebuild at the same step share a week range, 3-6 weeks for a business website. Where you land inside it depends on how fast content and approvals come back, and in a rebuild that is the part that waits on you.
If your current site gets found, pair the move with SEO foundation, EUR 450-750 one-off: Search Console, analytics, indexation, technical hygiene, titles, internal links and a 3-6 month plan. Whichever route you take, the code, the repository and the database of the new site are yours. Hosting is agreed per project.
When to spend less
If the site loads, gets found and brings in enquiries, and your complaint is that it looks a little dated, do neither yet. Replace the photos, rewrite the headline, fix the one page that bothers you. A dated site that works is a better position than a new one that has to earn its place in search again.
If your site is a single page, skip the question: a new step 01 landing is EUR 600-900 and there is nothing to move but the text. And if you are about to change what the business sells, wait until you have, and do not hire us yet. Migrating now and rebuilding after the change pays for the site twice.
Questions buyers ask
Will I lose my Google rankings if I migrate?
Rankings are tied to addresses and to what sits on them. Keep both where you can, redirect every address that changes to its closest new page, and check indexation in Search Console after launch. The damage comes from a move that drops pages or changes addresses without redirects, and that is avoidable.
Can I migrate away from a website builder?
Yes. Builders differ in what they let you take with you, and some release little beyond text and images. The templates get built new either way, and what carries over is your content, your list of addresses and the redirects between them. After the move, the code, the repository and the database are yours.
What do you need from me to quote a migration?
The current site address, access to its admin or an export, and a list of the tools it connects to. Read access to Search Console or analytics tells us which pages matter most. The fixed quote follows once that scoping is done.
What if I want to add payments during the move?
Then the new build is step 04, EUR 3.500-7.500 over 6-12 weeks, because payments bring a provider integration, receipts and failure cases the old site never had to handle. Added after the move, payments are an add-on at EUR 600-1.500, with the quote confirming the scope. Every step is on the price list.
Send your current site address through contact and ask which one it needs.
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JP Studio designs and builds websites, storefronts and product interfaces.