Once an IFA or mortgage broker decides the website needs work, two decisions follow, and they’re easy to muddle:
Get the order wrong and you can spend rebuild money on a site that only needed a refresh, or pay for a publishing platform nobody will use. Each decision comes down to one honest question, and this guide covers both.
A refresh keeps the platform, the content and the page addresses, and changes what sits on top: design, copy, trust signals, calculators, mobile performance. A rebuild starts again on a new platform or structure.
A refresh is faster and cheaper, and it protects the search rankings you’ve built because your page addresses stay the same. A rebuild costs more and carries a short-term search risk if the move isn’t handled carefully. It’s only worth it when the platform itself is what’s holding you back.
| Signs a refresh is enough | Signs you need a rebuild |
|---|---|
| The site ranks reasonably well and you don’t want to risk that | The platform can’t support the calculators, integrations or structure you need |
| The problem is conversion: weak calls to action, trust signals or copy | The platform is no longer supported, or has unresolved security problems |
| The platform is current, secure and capable, even if the design is dated | The firm has merged, repositioned or added major service lines |
| You need results soon | Mobile speed is so poor that incremental fixes won’t help |
| Your services haven’t fundamentally changed since the last build | A previous refresh didn’t fix things because the platform was the limit |
Two recent broker projects show the difference. One ran on an established WordPress site with years of useful blog posts, so we proposed a refresh: a new design and theme, every existing article kept at its current address. The other ran on Wix, and moving it to a new platform made it a rebuild.
Imagine every page on your current site had perfect copy, strong trust signals and a flawless calculator. Would the platform still hold you back?
If not, refresh. If it would, because the platform can’t support good content and tools, rebuild, even though it costs more upfront.
Be wary of anyone who recommends a rebuild without explaining why a refresh won’t do. A rebuild is the bigger project, and not every agency will point out when the smaller one would do the job.
Many small advice firms are sold a content management system they never use. The pattern is familiar: “you can update it yourself”, one training session, two logins, and three years later a site full of outdated plugins whose newest article dates from launch week.
There’s a real alternative: a fast site with no content management system at all.
| Fast site, no CMS | WordPress | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A handful of pages with no admin area, database or plugins | The same design, with an editor for every page and a blog |
| Speed | Very fast | Fast if built and hosted well |
| Maintenance | Almost none | Updates, backups and security monitoring every month |
| Build cost | Lower | Higher |
| Running cost | Lower | Hosting plus maintenance; ours is £140 a month in total |
| Who makes changes | We do, at £60 an hour | You do, in the editor |
| Publishing articles | Not practical | Built in |
| Search control | Basic | Full: titles, descriptions, structured data, redirects |
| Forms and integrations | Simple contact form | Booking, CRM links, review feeds, enquiry tracking |
| Best for | A referral-led practice of one to three advisers, with a stable offer and no plans to write | Firms that will publish, serve several client types, or plan to grow |
Not budget, and not technical confidence. Ask this: will anyone in the firm publish on the website in the next twelve months?
If the honest answer is no, choose the fast site without a CMS, keep the running costs low and spend the difference on something you’ll use. If it’s yes, WordPress earns its cost: a few good articles a year and some targeted landing pages, one for each type of client, are what build a site’s search visibility over time.
If you’d publish but don’t have the time to write, that’s what Heer Content Services is for.
| Won’t publish | Will publish | |
|---|---|---|
| Refresh | A new design on your current platform, kept simple | A new design and theme on your current WordPress site, with existing articles kept at their addresses |
| Rebuild | Move to a fast site with no CMS | Move to WordPress, with redirects from every old page address |
Two things make the choice less risky than it looks.
You can see the design before choosing a platform. We build a working prototype of your new homepage first, so the design is settled before anyone commits to how it’s built. You review it on your phone, beside your current site.
The no-CMS route can be upgraded later. A fast site built from an approved design can be turned into WordPress later without a redesign, if you start publishing. Going the other way rarely makes sense, so if you’re genuinely unsure, the simpler site is the safer starting point.
For what each option costs to build and run, see How Much Does a Financial Adviser Website Cost in 2026?
We’ll build a working prototype of your new homepage at no cost, with no proposal to sign first, and tell you plainly whether we think you need a refresh or a rebuild, and which platform fits how your firm actually works. Whatever you build, it will need to meet the FCA’s financial promotion rules; FCA Rules for Adviser Websites covers what has to be on the page.
David Dawkins is the founder and director of Heer Digital. Before founding Heer in 2012, he worked in marketing and product management in regulated financial services at GE Capital, GE Money, GMAC-RFC and the AA. He now leads Heer’s website work for IFAs and mortgage brokers. Connect on LinkedIn.
