--- title: "Website Redesign on a Fixed Budget, Week by Week | Murarum" description: "How a fixed-budget website redesign runs week by week: what to cut before the start, what never to cut and what the client brings each week." url: https://murarum.ro/en/insights/website-redesign-week-by-week language: en alternate_ro: https://murarum.ro/articole/redesign-site-saptamana-cu-saptamana --- 8 min read · Product development # How we work: a fixed-budget website redesign, week by week A fixed-budget website redesign is one whose scope is agreed and cut in writing before work starts, so it can be quoted as a fixed price per stage instead of growing with every meeting. It works only if the cuts fall on extras, such as custom animations, extra page templates or a second language at launch, and never on content, analytics, redirects from old URLs, accessibility basics or handover. This article shows how we run one, week by week, and what we ask of you each week. By Mircea Muraru · 23 October 2026 ## A redesign is the cheap moment to fix what sits behind the site Companies that ask us for a refresh usually describe a problem of looks: the site feels old, it does not work well on a phone, it no longer matches the company. Look a little closer and other problems show up. The services page describes what the company sold three years ago. Enquiries land in a shared inbox that nobody owns. Nobody can say which pages bring customers and which only cost upkeep. Murarum is a business transformation studio, not a web agency. We take on redesigns because a redesign forces the questions most companies postpone: what exactly do we sell, to whom, what happens after someone fills in the form, who answers and how fast, and what do we measure. Answering them while the site is being rebuilt costs little. Answering them after launch means rebuilding again. ## What a fixed budget means here A fixed budget is not a package price. We scope first and quote second: once we agree in writing what the redesign covers, each agreed stage has a fixed price, quoted in EUR, and the build is invoiced in the stages set out in the quote. If the scope changes along the way, the quote changes in writing before the work, never after. There is no price list, for the reasons on [how we price](https://murarum.ro/en/approach/pricing). One honest limit: if your company is under ten people and all you need is a simple presentation site, a good freelancer will probably serve you better, and we will say so in the first conversation. ## What to cut before the start A small budget does not stretch. It has to be spent where the site earns its keep, so we cut the extras together, in writing, before the first week: - Custom animations and effects. They take long to design, build and test, and rarely change whether a visitor gets in touch. - Extra page templates. One template per kind of page that really exists. A template used by a single page is a cost without a return. - A second language at launch. Launch in the language your customers buy in, with a structure ready for the second one, and add it as a later stage. - Integrations nobody uses yet. If the CRM is still a spreadsheet, the form sends to a named person first. - A blog section with nobody to write it. An empty news page tells visitors the company has stopped. - Moving every old page across. Pages that nobody visits or that repeat each other are merged or removed. ## What never to cut - Content work. The words, the facts and the order of the pages are what the site is for. Design presents them; it cannot replace them. - Analytics. At the very least, measure enquiries and where they come from, with a consent banner that works. - Redirects from old URLs. Every old address that still matters points to its new one. - Accessibility basics. Readable contrast, real headings, text alternatives for images, forms with labels, a site that works with a keyboard. - Handover. Documentation, training on the CMS, and the code and accounts in your company's name. Redirects deserve a word, because they are the cut that hurts most later. Google's guidance on site moves recommends server-side permanent redirects, such as 301, from each old URL to its new one, kept generally for at least a year. It warns against sending many old URLs to one unrelated page, such as the home page, and it says to expect temporary fluctuation in rankings during the move. A redirect map is a few hours of careful work. Rebuilding search traffic lost without one is not. ## Content comes before design A design made on placeholder text hides the real problems: the headline that needs twelve words, the service nobody can explain in one sentence, the photo that does not exist. So we work through the content first and design on it. Before anything is built, you click through a prototype made on your own content and pages, and we change what does not hold while changing it is still cheap. It is the same order we followed for Eventer.NET, on a much larger product: a clickable prototype on demo data, walked through with the team and signed off before any backend code was written. See the [Eventer.NET case](https://murarum.ro/en/work/eventer-app). ## The weeks, one by one Below is a typical example for a small company site: a handful of service pages, an about page, contact and a few supporting pages. Durations are typical, not promised. The real plan comes out of the scope, and a larger site or a slower content week moves it. For reference, a site we designed and built for [ExproSov](https://murarum.ro/en/work/exprosov-website) went from brief to launch in four weeks. | Week | What we do | What you receive | What you provide | | ----------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Before week 1 | First conversation and written scope: what is in, what is cut, a fixed price per stage | A written scope and quote | One decision-maker who can say yes or no | | Week 1: scope and content inventory | We list every current page, what it is visited for and whether it stays, merges or goes. We follow an enquiry from the form to the person who answers it | A content inventory and a draft map from old URLs to new ones | Access to the current site, its analytics and the inbox where enquiries land | | Week 2: structure and content | We set the page structure and work through the content of the key pages with you | An approved sitemap and the content of the main pages | The facts: services, prices if you publish them, team, photos, and one round of review | | Week 3: design on real content | We design on the approved content and build a clickable prototype | A prototype you click through with us | One consolidated round of feedback, then sign-off | | Week 4: build | We build the pages and the CMS, route the forms to the right person and set up the analytics events | A working site on a staging address, shown in a demo | Content for the remaining pages and test enquiries | | Week 5: launch and handover | Acceptance testing, checks of code quality, performance, security and SEO, launch, redirects live, analytics checked | The live site, documentation, CMS training, code and accounts in your name, and a 12-month bug warranty | Testing every flow yourself, and access to the domain and DNS | If a week slips, the cause is usually on the content side: facts that arrive late or feedback that comes in three rounds instead of one. That is why we agree the dates for your part of the work at the start, just like ours. ## What the site is connected to The questions from week 1 are the part most redesigns skip and the part we care about most. Where does an enquiry go after the form? Who answers it, and how fast? What happens when that person is on holiday? Which numbers tell you the site works? Often the answer is a small change in how the team works, not a feature on the site. Two technical choices also outlive the design. The CMS decides who can change the site after launch and at what cost, so choose it as described in [how to choose a CMS without agency lock-in](https://murarum.ro/en/insights/choose-a-cms-without-agency-lock-in). And clear, factual service pages are what AI assistants can quote, which we cover in [how to get cited by ChatGPT and Claude](https://murarum.ro/en/insights/get-cited-by-chatgpt-and-claude). ## After launch The extras cut at the start do not disappear. They become a short list of next stages, a second language or a new section, each quoted on its own when you want it. Any bug that shows up after launch is covered by a 12-month warranty. And if the redesign showed that the real problem sits in how enquiries, offers or orders move through the company, the next step is a [diagnosis](https://murarum.ro/en/approach/diagnosis): a fixed-scope look at those processes, with a written plan you keep. ## Summary - A fixed-budget redesign works only when the scope is cut in writing before the start. - Cut animations, extra templates, a second language at launch and unused integrations. - Never cut content, analytics, redirects from old URLs, accessibility basics or handover. - Content comes first; design is made on real content and tested as a clickable prototype. - A redesign is the cheapest moment to sort out what happens behind the site, from the form to the person who answers. ## Frequently asked questions ### How long does a website redesign take? For a small company site, a typical example is about five weeks after the scope is agreed: content inventory, structure and content, design on real content, build, then launch and handover. Durations are typical, not promised; the real plan comes out of the scope. A site we designed and built for ExproSov went from brief to launch in four weeks. ### Can a website redesign really have a fixed price? Yes, once the scope is agreed in writing. We quote a fixed price per agreed stage, in EUR, and invoice the build in the stages set out in the quote. If the scope changes, the quote changes in writing before the work. We do not publish a price list, because a price before the scope is known would be a guess. ### What does the client need to provide during a redesign? One decision-maker, access to the current site, its analytics and the inbox where enquiries land, the facts about your services and team, one consolidated round of feedback per stage and time to test every flow before launch. We agree the dates for your part at the start. ### Will a redesign make us lose Google rankings? It can, if old URLs break. Google recommends server-side permanent redirects, such as 301, from each old URL to its new one, kept generally for at least a year, and says to expect temporary fluctuation in rankings during a site move. A full map from old URLs to new ones is part of every redesign we run. ### Why does a business transformation studio take on website redesigns? Because a redesign forces the questions behind the site: what the company sells, to whom, where enquiries go, who answers them and what gets measured. Answering them during a redesign costs little. When the answers point to deeper process problems, the next step is a diagnosis. [Still have questions? Write to us](https://murarum.ro/en/contact) ## Related - [Product Development](https://murarum.ro/en/services/product-development) - [All case studies](https://murarum.ro/en/work) [A speaker management platform for Eventer.NET](https://murarum.ro/en/work/eventer-app): Eventer.NET · Medical congresses and events · 2026 [WHO LENA: guidance for hard conversations with patients](https://murarum.ro/en/work/who-mobile-application): World Health Organization · Global health · 2021 ## Planning a redesign on a tight budget? Tell us what the site is for and what happens after someone gets in touch. We will tell you what to cut, and whether we are the right fit. [Let’s talk](https://murarum.ro/en/contact) [office@murarum.ro](mailto:office@murarum.ro) ## Contact - Email: office@murarum.ro - Phone: +40 761 339 149 - Let’s talk: https://murarum.ro/en/contact