Lift & Shift, Redesign, or Hybrid Project: Which Is Best for Your Website?

If your website is outdated and you know you need to do something for it but have no idea where to start, you're not alone. It can feel overwhelming, especially when there are multiple paths forward.

At Gate 39, we see most website projects land in one of three categories:

• A lift-and-shift moves your site to a new platform without changing what visitors see.

• A complete redesign starts over with new visuals and, usually, new content.

• A hybrid project sits somewhere in between.

There's no single correct answer that works for every business, so I asked the people on our team who handle each part of a website project how they would advise on which option to pursue and when. 

What is a Lift-and-Shift Website Project?

With a lift-and-shift approach, we rebuild your existing website on a new platform while keeping the visuals and content the same. For example, if you wanted to move your site from WordPress to HubSpot CMS, we would rebuild it as-is and ensure your visitors continue to have the same experience they have always had. The change essentially happens behind the scenes: visitors get the same familiar experience, while your team gets tools that make the website easier to manage.

This approach makes sense when your website still looks good and serves your business well, but making updates is harder than it should be. Moving to a more user-friendly platform, like a drag-and-drop editor, can give your internal team more control over everyday changes and reduce the need for developer support. 

Gate 39 Senior Developer Walter Loburak put it simply: "If the CMS, theme, plugins, and integrations are reasonably current, there aren't a lot of custom server dependencies, and the site performs well once moved to a modern environment, there usually isn't a technical reason to rebuild it just for the sake of rebuilding it."

Feiying Hu, another Senior Developer on our team, adds that these projects often consist of websites "built with normal, common tools instead of custom functionality." That means if your site hasn't accumulated a ton of custom features over the years, it'll be fairly easy to recreate it on a new platform.

The catch is that a lift-and-shift preserves everything, including the parts that aren't working. Our Marketing Manager Wendy Ormsby warns, "If the business has evolved but the website has not, a simple lift-and-shift may preserve the very problems the project should solve." This could mean you might want to consider a redesign instead.

What is a Complete Website Redesign?

A complete redesign overhauls the visuals of your site from scratch, which almost always means redoing the content, too. Sometimes your messaging or branding has changed so much that patching the old site would take longer than starting over, while other times your services haven't changed at all, but the language and visuals feel stuck in another decade.

Either way, a redesign gives you permission for a fresh start, which can be both terrifying and exciting.

Gate 39 Design Lead Nick Landsberger shared a great example of when starting fresh beats trying to fix what's there. He says to picture a brand built on dark forest green and deep navy. As he explained, "those colors are so similar that, depending on element size, they read as near-black." That makes it hard to meet accessibility standards and even harder to create accent colors for buttons. Add to the mix an outdated logo sitting in the navigation of every page, and you hit what Nick calls "a ceiling that makes a full refresh more practical than incremental improvement."

A redesign is also the right move when the real problem is the message. Wendy was clear that a platform change "will not fix weak positioning, unclear messaging, poor offers, ineffective CTAs, or content that does not match customer intent." Those take strategy, which usually means new words and new visuals.

What Does a Hybrid Approach Look Like?

A hybrid project keeps part of what you have and reworks the rest. This could entail:

• Refreshing the homepage while keeping the rest of the site largely intact
• Adding movement or video to create a more engaging experience
• Updating the design while reusing content that still works well
• Improving key calls-to-action and conversion paths

This approach makes sense when your website needs targeted improvements. Maybe your homepage feels dated, but the interior pages still work well, or your content is strong, but the presentation could use more energy.

When your brand is well-established, Nick recommends you "change the architecture, not the recognizable face." His guiding principle for any redesign is "to preserve familiarity in function even when form changes," essentially meaning that returning visitors should still know where to click.

Wendy then summed up the hybrid mindset in one line: "preserve proven equity, improve what still has potential, and rebuild only where the existing structure, technology, or customer experience prevents the website from supporting the company's current goals."

SEE OUR DESIGN PORTFOLIO »

First, Decide What's Worth Keeping

To take the first step in choosing an approach, take stock of what’s still working on your website and what you’re ready to leave behind. That balance will help you decide how much actually needs to change. 

Start with what's a no-brainer to keep intact. Allison Bischoff, our Director of Marketing, looks for content "that is core to your values and doesn't change based on trends," like case studies and process pages, plus anything that still ranks or converts. Nick would add the design pieces that make your brand recognizable, from true brand colors to a typeface with real character.

Then, be honest about what's dead weight. Old plugins, duplicate tools, and pages nobody has visited in years don't deserve to occupy prime real estate on the new site. As Walter put it, moving them over "just gives the technical debt a nicer place to live."

If most of your site lands in the "keep" pile, you're looking at a lift-and-shift. However, if you're struggling to find much worth saving, that's your sign it's time for a redesign. And, of course, a mixed pile points to a hybrid.

Lift-and-Shift vs. Complete Redesign vs. Hybrid Projects at a Glance

	Lift-and-Shift	Redesign	Hybrid
What changes	The platform behind the site	Visuals and content	Visuals or select content and CTAs
What stays	The look and the content	Proven URLs and search equity	Whatever is still performing
Best for	A healthy site on a frustrating platform	A business that has outgrown its site	A strong brand or strong content with weak spots
Example	Moving from WordPress to HubSpot	New messaging after a rebrand	New design with existing content
Upfront cost	Lowest	Highest	Moderate
Watch out for	Carrying old problems onto a new platform	Losing SEO without a redirect plan	Scope creep

Our Recommendation: Plan For the Next 3 Years

Pick the approach that solves the problem you have right now, and let your data point the way. Wendy's advice is to diagnose before you prescribe; "Declining traffic or form submissions can signal a problem, but the cause should be diagnosed before choosing a solution."

Then, look beyond the price tag. A lift-and-shift almost always costs less upfront, but Megan Smith, Gate 39's Director of Managed Services, warns that "sometimes spending less during migration simply transfers that cost into ongoing support and future modernization." Picture your site 2 or 3 years from now. You'll likely want a platform your team can still support, secure, and grow without a fire drill every few months.

Then remember that getting your new website live is a huge milestone, but what happens next is the real measure of success. As Megan puts it, "Go-live shouldn't be the finish line used to judge whether a modernization strategy was successful." 

Still not sure which bucket you're in? That's what we're here for. Our team would be happy to look at your current site with you and help you figure out what's worth keeping. Contact us today to start the conversation.

You might also be interested in: 

• What's the Difference Between a Logo Redesign and a Rebrand?
• Is Your Website Due for a Refresh? Here Are 7 Signs It's Time
• UX Writing: Why Copy Is Just as Important as Visual Design