Rebuild or Redesign?

6 questions to tell whether your problems are cosmetic (redesign) or structural (rebuild).

  1. Does your site load in under 3 seconds on mobile?

  2. Can your plugin stack be updated without breaking the site?

  3. Does your CMS support the integrations you need?

  4. Is your WordPress & PHP within two major versions of current?

  5. Is your checkout / lead-form conversion at or above average?

  6. Would fixing the visual design solve 80%+ of complaints?

How the six questions decide

The quiz asks six yes-or-no questions about the site you have now: whether it loads in under three seconds on a phone, whether the plugins can be updated without breaking it, whether the platform supports the integrations you need, whether WordPress and PHP are reasonably current, whether the checkout or lead form converts at an average rate or better, and whether fixing the look would settle most complaints.

Every “yes” is a sign that the foundation is sound. Five or six point to a redesign on the existing platform. Three or four point to a partial rebuild: visual changes alongside foundation work such as a plugin audit, a PHP upgrade or performance fixes. Two or fewer point to a full rebuild, because a new design on a weak base keeps the same problems.

Every question weighs the same, so the result is a direction, not a diagnosis. Sometimes one “no” outweighs the rest: a platform that cannot support an integration the business depends on, for example. Answer from what you know rather than what you hope, and bring the result to a conversation with whoever will do the work. Your answers stay in your browser.

Questions about this tool

What is the difference between a redesign and a rebuild?

A redesign changes how the site looks and reads while keeping the platform, the plugins and the data underneath. A rebuild replaces that base as well: new architecture, with the content and data moved over. The quiz tells the two apart by asking where your problems sit, on the surface or in the foundation.

I got “partial rebuild”. What does that involve?

Foundation work alongside the visual changes. The result names a plugin audit, a PHP upgrade and performance fixes as typical examples. Which of these apply to your site is settled in a technical review.

The questions mention WordPress and PHP. Is the quiz useful for other platforms?

Five of the six questions fit any site. The one about WordPress and PHP versions is specific; on another platform, read it as: is the software underneath the site still supported and up to date?