Lean redesign
Nav still matches the business. Product files still exist. The domain is indexed. The problems are dated look, weak mobile, a bad form. Swap design and key templates on the old structure. Lower risk, and search is less likely to reset.
Not every ugly site needs a rebuild, and not every site that opens is worth patching. Check three things: is IA still right, can you technically edit, and should the domain and index be inherited.
Lean rebuild
Nav follows departments, not buyers. The template will not move. No CMS. Nobody can maintain the code. Entity, phone, and products have all changed. More patching will cost more than a rebuild and get messier.
A common trap: keep a ten-year table layout to “protect Baidu rank.” If mobile is unusable, titles repeat, and one keyword is stuffed sitewide, index quality is already low. A rebuild can keep the domain and 301 important product URLs. Search logic: search compounding.
A template reskin does not change the bones. You usually rebuild IA. Difference: Where Template Sites Differ From a Custom Corporate Website. If only news stopped and files remain, updating content may be more urgent than a redesign. See If Nobody Updates It, Is a Website Still Worth Building.
A rebuild does not mean every section at once. Use Digital Business Card vs Inquiry Engine and ship home, products, cases, and contact first. The rest can phase. Timeline: cost and timeline.
Write a migration list of what to keep and what to drop
After you decide to rebuild, the fear is “new site live, old links all 404.” List URLs printed on samples, cards, and bids. Keep them if you can. Else 301 to the closest new product page. Move analytics, company mail, ICP number, and HTTPS — not only the look. Archive or delete expired news. Do not keep a 2016 wrong phone to “look historic.”
If the old site still has some search traffic, do not run two competing domains for long without redirects. On a redesign, do not lose old products after nav changes. Either way, back up the database and assets first. When DaXi reviews an old site we open the CMS (if any), read source, read stats, and ask which pages sales actually forwards — then recommend redesign or rebuild. We do not default to tearing it down. Send the live URL to the corporate website service page. Diagnose inquiries first: The Site Is Live. Why Are There Still No Inquiries. Overall process: From Brief to Launch: How Corporate Website Work Should Run. If manufacturer nav was wrong from the start, patching labels will not fix it — redraw it with How Manufacturers Should Structure Website Navigation.
Also keep this in mind
On a rebuild, migrate the links sales already uses before making home trendier. Ask “which pages do you forward now.” That is the core of the migration list. Browse-only sections can wait for phase two so launch day sales still knows what to send.
If the old site has many backlinks and document cites, export the list before rebuild. 301 what you can. Do not turn them into 404. That floor for search and old customers beats a new-look launch date.
Do not switch the old site off during rebuild. Cut over after preview passes. A dark window that hits a tender or a large diligence costs more than the redesign itself.
If the old site is a packaged builder account, export images and copy to your own disk before you talk rebuild. Once the account stops, assets may vanish. That is asset protection, not a tech preference.
If you choose redesign, fix mobile and the form before fonts. Many “we must rebuild” complaints go away when sales is willing to forward again.
Whether redesign or rebuild, write “which three links sales will send next week” into acceptance so the project does not stop at a new home only the owner sees.