A practical checklist for rebuilding versus refreshing

The advice here is unglamorous, which is probably why it gets skipped. Run through this the next time rebuilding versus refreshing comes up.

Strategy work is mostly deciding what not to do, and writing it down so it stays decided. Most teams find the first pass takes an afternoon and the maintenance takes minutes a month.

The checklist

• A rebuild is not always the answer
• If the structure is sound, styling and content may be enough
• Rebuild when the platform blocks what you need to do
• Someone is named as the owner
• There is a date to review it again

What is actually at stake

A rebuild is not always the answer. Getting it slightly wrong is survivable. Ignoring it entirely is not. It is the sort of thing that looks like polish right up until it costs you an enquiry.

The short version

Clear scope protects the client at least as much as it protects the agency. Three things worth confirming about rebuilding versus refreshing before you move on:

• Someone can say what the current setup is without going to look
• A rebuild is not always the answer — and you know whether that is true here
• There is a way to tell whether the last change to this helped

If you want a second opinion on how yours is set up, ask.