What a navigation redesign costs in the UK

Key takeaways

In the UK market, focused navigation fixes on an existing site, such as new labels, order, a header action and dropdown fixes, typically fall within the £500–£3,000 range for focused design fixes. A restructure that includes research, testing and redirects costs more. Navigation rebuilt as part of a redesign on the same platform sits within about £3,000–£12,000. These are market ranges, not GBL prices.

• Focused fixes to an existing site: typically £500–£3,000 in the UK market.
• UK developers commonly charge about £50–£100 an hour.
• Redesign on the same platform: about £3,000–£12,000.
• Research, testing and redirects add to the cost and reduce risk.

What does a navigation redesign include?

A navigation redesign can mean anything from renaming three labels to restructuring the whole site. Scope it in layers, so you know what you are paying for.

• Audit and recommendations.
• Label and order changes.
• Header, mobile menu and dropdown fixes.
• Card sorting and tree testing for a new structure.
• Page moves, URL changes and redirects.
• Usability testing before and after.

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• Website navigation audit: a one-afternoon review

What do the market ranges look like?

Market ranges vary by supplier, platform and site size. In the UK market, focused design fixes to an existing site, which include navigation labels and structure, typically cost £500–£3,000. Developers commonly charge somewhere around £50–£100 an hour, often with a minimum charge. A redesign on the same platform typically runs about £3,000–£12,000, and a full rebuild £5,000–£20,000 or more.

• How much does it cost to fix bad website design?
• how much a business website costs in the UK

What drives the cost up or down?

The biggest drivers are how many pages and templates are involved, whether URLs change, how much research and testing is included, and how the site is built. A well-built site with one menu setting is quick to change; a site with hard-coded menus in several templates takes longer.

• Number of pages, templates and menus.
• Whether URLs change and need redirects.
• Research: card sorts, tree tests, user tests.
• Platform and build quality.
• Languages and regional versions.

Is it worth paying for research and testing?

For label tweaks, usually not; a quick first-click test with a few people is enough. For a new structure, yes: a card sort and tree test before building cost far less than rebuilding a structure that does not work. Testing also protects you from changes that look better but perform worse.

• Card sorting: let customers organise your website
• Tree testing: check visitors can find things before you build

How do you judge value?

Compare the cost with the value of more visitors reaching key pages. As an illustrative example, if a navigation fix adds three enquiries a month and one in three becomes a £1,500 job, it adds about £1,500 a month. A £2,000 fix would pay back in under two months in that example. Use your own figures.

• What poor website navigation costs a UK business

What does this look like in practice?

A pattern we see: an owner expects a menu change to need a new website. The audit shows the structure is sound and the problems are labels, a missing header action and a broken mobile dropdown. That is focused-fix work rather than a redesign.

• See client work
• Website Design & Development for UK businesses

Navigation cost checklist

• Audit first to scope the real problem.
• Separate label fixes from restructures.
• Ask whether URLs will change.
• Budget for testing on structural changes.
• Compare cost with the value of extra enquiries.

• How to redesign website navigation, step by step
• What to say about navigation in a website brief

Next step

List the navigation problems you know about and mark each as wording, structure or technical.