Cost guide · Websites

Website redesign cost in Portsmouth & the NH Seacoast (2026)

Updated October 2026 · By Kyle Fredette, Seacoast Cited

Website redesign cost for a small business usually runs from about $1,500 to $10,000 in 2026 with a freelancer or small studio, and agencies often quote $15,000 or more. In Portsmouth and across the NH Seacoast, Seacoast Cited publishes its prices: a Starter Site is $1,500 for up to five pages, and a Custom Site starts at $2,500.

The spread is wide because "redesign" covers everything from a new color scheme to a rebuilt site with new pages and new copy. This guide breaks down what each tier gets you, what actually moves the price, when a lighter refresh is the better buy, and how to redesign without losing the Google rankings you already have.

How much does it cost to redesign a website?

Most small business redesigns land between about $1,500 and $10,000. A light refresh of fonts and colors can cost less. Agency projects with custom design and content strategy often start around $15,000. Our Starter Site is $1,500 one time and our Custom Site starts at $2,500, both priced the same as a new build.

The market figures below come from published pricing guides by agencies and freelancers. They disagree with each other, so treat them as general ranges. Our prices are the ones in bold, and they match our website design page.

Tier	Typical price	What it usually covers
Light refresh	Under $2,000	New colors, fonts, photos and mobile fixes on the same structure and pages.
Cited Starter Site	$1,500 one time	Up to 5 pages on a proven layout customized to your brand, Google and AI search setup, Google Business Profile setup, lead-tracking form, analytics, 2 revision rounds.
Cited Custom Site	From $2,500	Designed from scratch with pages scoped to your business, a keyword audit before the build, three development rounds, a free re-audit at 90 days.
Freelancer or small studio	Roughly $1,500 to $10,000	Varies widely with page count, design work and who writes the copy.
Agency	Often $15,000 and up	Discovery, strategy, custom design, copywriting and project management on larger sites.

What is the average website redesign cost for a small business?

There is no reliable single average, because every guide counts different work as a redesign. Published guides cluster small business redesigns in the low-to-mid thousands of dollars, with large sites and online stores far higher. A more useful number is the price for your page count, your design needs and who writes the words.

When you compare quotes, line them up against the same scope: number of pages, custom or template design, copywriting, photos, redirects from the old site, and what happens after launch. Two quotes that differ by $8,000 often differ mostly in what they include, and the cheaper one is not always missing the parts you need.

What drives the price of a website redesign?

Four things drive most of the cost: how many pages you need, whether the design is custom or built on a proven layout, who writes the copy and supplies photos, and whether the site needs features like bookings or a store. Get those four pinned down and quotes become much easier to compare.

Does page count change the price?

Yes, more than anything else. Each page needs design, copy, structure and testing. A five page site, such as home, services, about, reviews and contact, covers most Seacoast service businesses and is exactly what our $1,500 Starter Site is built for. Sites with a page per service or per town cost more anywhere you go.

Is a custom design worth paying more for?

Sometimes. A proven layout customized with your logo, colors and photos is faster and cheaper, and for most local businesses it performs just as well. A custom design makes sense when your brand needs to stand apart, your services are complex, or you need pages planned around specific searches. That is what our Custom Site, from $2,500, is for.

Who writes the content and supplies the photos?

Copy and photos are where many quotes quietly grow. Some providers price in writing every page, others expect you to supply it. Ask who writes the words, how many revision rounds you get, and whether you need photos. Our Starter Site includes two revision rounds, and the Custom Site includes three development rounds.

Do bookings, stores and integrations add cost?

Yes. Online booking, payments, product catalogs and connections to other software all add design, setup and testing time, and they make the site more expensive to maintain afterward too. Ask any provider to price these features separately rather than assume a flat site price covers them, ours included, so you know exactly what you are paying for.

Have a quote in hand and not sure it fits? Send it over and I will tell you honestly whether it is fair for the scope.

When is a redesign worth it, and when is a refresh enough?

A redesign is worth it when the site is the reason you are losing work: it is hard to use on a phone, it does not say what you do or where, it is slow, or you cannot update it. If the structure works and it only looks dated, a refresh of photos, fonts and copy may be enough.

Redesign if customers say they could not find what they needed, the site breaks on phones, you have outgrown your services pages, or you are locked into a builder you cannot edit.
Refresh if the site already brings in calls, ranks for your main services, and just needs current photos, hours, prices and a cleaner look.
Do neither yet if the real problem is that nobody finds the site. That is a search problem, and a new design alone will not fix it.

How do you keep your Google rankings during a redesign?

Keep every page that already ranks, and send every old address to its closest new page with a permanent 301 redirect. Most ranking drops after a redesign come from old URLs that suddenly return errors, or from pages that ranked being cut or rewritten without care. Plan the redirect map before launch, not after.

List every current URL and note which pages bring in search traffic, using Google Search Console if you have it.
Map each old URL to a new one. Same topic, closest match. Do not send everything to the homepage.
Set up 301 redirects for every changed address before the new site goes live.
Carry over what ranks: page titles, headings and the content that earned the ranking, improved rather than replaced.
Update your Google Business Profile website link if the address changed, and submit the new sitemap in Search Console.
Check Search Console in the weeks after launch for pages showing as not found, and fix them.

On our redesigns, that review of your current site comes first, so we keep pages that already rank, redirect old addresses properly, and carry over what is working instead of starting from zero.

What does a redesign not include, and what comes after launch?

A redesign price covers building the site. It usually does not cover ongoing changes, monthly SEO, or brand work like a new logo. Budget for upkeep after launch: with us, Site Care is optional at $100 per batch of changes or a Care Plan from $250 a month, and a logo is a fixed-price add-on.

Ongoing changes and monitoring. See our website maintenance cost guide for what that runs.
A new logo or brand identity. $1,500 for three concepts, two revision rounds, the full logo set and a brand sheet, or $2,750 for the larger brand kit.
Monthly growth work. SEO, AI search optimization and social are separate, or bundled in a package that starts with the $1,500 Starter Site.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a website redesign cost for a 5 page site?

With Seacoast Cited, a redesign of up to five pages is $1,500 as a Starter Site, one time, with two rounds of revisions. Freelancers and small studios commonly quote a few thousand dollars for a similar site, and agencies more. The difference is usually custom design work and how much of the content they write.

How long does a website redesign take?

Most of our sites go live within four weeks of kickoff. A Starter Site is usually the faster of the two because it builds on a proven layout. The biggest factor is how quickly we get your details, photos and feedback, so we keep the questions short and the revision rounds clear.

Will I lose my Google rankings if I redesign my website?

Not if the move is planned. Rankings drop when old page addresses disappear without a redirect, or when pages that ranked get cut or rewritten without care. Map every old URL, 301 redirect each one to its closest new page, keep the content that already ranks, and check Search Console after launch.

Is a redesign priced differently from a brand new website?

Not with us. Redesigns are priced the same way as new builds: a Starter Site at $1,500 or a Custom Site from $2,500. The extra work in a redesign is the review of your current site, the redirect map and carrying over what already works, and that is part of the job.

Do I own the redesigned website?

Yes. You own your domain, your website and every word on it. We do not lock you into a proprietary builder or hold your files. If you ever leave, everything goes with you, and ongoing Site Care is optional rather than a condition of owning the site.