Website upgrade
in Redwood City

Site upgrades preserve much of an existing website while modernizing specific aspects: platform upgrades (moving from outdated CMS versions to current ones), technical modernization (updating underlying technology while keeping design and content), accessibility upgrades (bringing old sites up to WCAG compliance), performance upgrades (modernizing the technical stack for speed), and capability additions (adding new features to existing sites). Full redesigns reimagine the entire site; upgrades modernize specifically what needs modernization. For Redwood City companies with functional but aging sites, upgrades often produce better ROI than full rebuilds.

Our upgrade services include: CMS version upgrades (Drupal 7 to 10, outdated WordPress to current, Magento 1 to 2 migration), platform migrations (moving to more appropriate CMS or framework), technical stack modernization (updating dependencies, frameworks, deployment infrastructure), accessibility remediation and WCAG upgrades, performance upgrades, mobile responsiveness upgrades for old non-responsive sites, SEO modernization, and integration upgrades (replacing legacy integrations with modern APIs).

Yes — Drupal version upgrades are major projects we specialize in. Drupal 7's end-of-life creates urgent pressure for Redwood City organizations still running it — we handle migrations to Drupal 10 with comprehensive scope: content migration preserving URLs and metadata, custom module rewriting (many Drupal 7 custom modules don't port directly to modern Drupal), theme redevelopment, integration updates, and extensive QA. Drupal upgrades are typically 12-24 week projects for substantial sites — planning adequate timeline and budget prevents the rushed migrations that produce problems.

WordPress sites running very old versions (pre-5.0) face multiple upgrade considerations: core version updates with testing of theme and plugin compatibility, potentially replacing outdated themes or plugins with modern alternatives, Gutenberg editor migration considerations for sites still using classic editor, PHP version upgrades (old WordPress often runs on outdated PHP), and hosting modernization. For Redwood City clients on legacy WordPress, upgrades restore the platform to currency while preserving content and functionality — often dramatically improving performance and security posture.

Yes — though we're honest that Magento 1 to Magento 2 migrations are essentially rebuild projects rather than true upgrades. Magento 2 has fundamentally different architecture, theme system, and extension ecosystem. For Redwood City clients still on Magento 1 (now unsupported), we typically recommend: evaluating whether Magento 2 still makes sense vs. alternatives (Shopify Plus, headless approaches), fresh builds on target platform preserving data but redesigning implementation, comprehensive migration planning addressing extensions and customizations that don't port cleanly.

Accessibility upgrades systematically address existing compliance gaps: accessibility audit identifying specific WCAG violations, prioritized remediation plan addressing highest-impact issues first, code-level changes adding proper semantic HTML, ARIA labels, keyboard navigation, and color contrast fixes, accessibility statement development, and ongoing testing ensuring remediation is comprehensive. For Redwood City clients, accessibility upgrades address both ethical requirements and California's active ADA litigation environment — compliance has real legal value beyond inclusion.

Upgrades must preserve existing SEO equity — URLs, content, authority, rankings. We manage SEO through upgrades: comprehensive URL mapping before migration, proper 301 redirects for changed URLs, structured data preservation and enhancement, content preservation with improvements where appropriate, metadata migration (titles, descriptions, schema), internal linking structure preservation, and post-launch monitoring for ranking or traffic changes. For Redwood City clients with established SEO positions, upgrade SEO management is as important as feature development.

Upgrade project scope varies enormously. Simple WordPress version upgrades with compatibility work: 2-6 weeks at $5K-$25K. Drupal 7 to 10 upgrades: 12-24 weeks at $75K-$300K. Magento 1 to Magento 2 migrations (effectively rebuilds): 16-32 weeks at $150K-$750K. Comprehensive upgrades with redesign and functionality additions: 16-32 weeks at $100K-$500K. For Redwood City clients, upgrade investment typically saves money long-term compared to neglecting aging sites until complete replacement becomes necessary — proactive upgrades are less expensive than reactive rebuilds.