The verdict in three sentences
For a management consultancy in Nairobi, a 2026 website redesign costs roughly $1,900 to $19,400 with a local agency depending on scope, against $2,900, $4,900 or $8,900 on the fixed Kolonell grid. Budget is rarely the real risk: redirects, tender documents already circulating and the CVs stored in the old site are what lose traffic or expose the firm. Allow 4 weeks for a well-prepared redesign, 8 to 14 weeks if the content inventory has not been done.
Why does a Nairobi consultancy redesign its site?
Firms in Westlands, Upper Hill, Kilimani or Gigiri live on tenders and on relationships with donors, NGOs, government agencies and regional corporates. Their site is less about attracting strangers than about reassuring an evaluation committee: a buyer receives a proposal, then checks the firm's references, team and publications online.
The reasons for a redesign are therefore very concrete:
- capability statements and prequalification documents scattered as PDFs, sometimes outdated;
- reference pages written five years ago, with no structure by sector (health, governance, agriculture, energy);
- a join our consultant network form that piles up CVs with no retention rule;
- a slow mobile site, while some evaluators browse from a phone on an average connection;
- no French version for programmes funded by francophone donors.
Be careful with reference content: do not publish client figures or donor names without written permission. A case page can describe the type of assignment, the sector and the method without exposing the client.
What budget should you plan for the redesign?
Local ranges are 2026 ballpark figures based on typical Nairobi agency quotes, converted at roughly KES 129 to USD 1.
| Scope | Nairobi agency (ballpark) | Approximate equivalent | Kolonell |
|---|---|---|---|
| Refresh, 10 to 15 pages | KES 250,000 to 500,000 | $1,900 to $3,900 | Starter $2,900 |
| Full redesign, 20 to 40 pages, references and publications | KES 600,000 to 1,300,000 | $4,650 to $10,100 | Growth $4,900 |
| English and French redesign, document library, careers | KES 1,300,000 to 2,500,000 | $10,100 to $19,400 | Premium $8,900 (the multilingual tier, languages set in the quote) |
| Migration of 100+ PDFs, often billed extra | KES 80,000 to 200,000 | $620 to $1,550 | scope set in the quote |
| Consultant portal with login | on quote | on quote | custom application, on quote |
Every Kolonell tier includes a project manager reachable in your time zone (EAT, UTC+3), native English or French copywriting, delivery in 3 to 4 weeks and 3 months of support. Tiers are detailed on the international website offer page.
How long does a redesign take, phase by phase?
| Phase | Kolonell | Typical agency | Deliverable |
|---|---|---|---|
| Audit and inventory of URLs and PDFs | week 1 | 2 to 3 weeks | URL sheet, content to keep, merge or delete |
| Sitemap and wireframes | weeks 1 and 2 | 2 to 4 weeks | structure by sector and service |
| Design and copywriting | weeks 2 and 3 | 3 to 6 weeks | approved key pages, anonymised case pages |
| Build and migration | weeks 3 and 4 | 4 to 8 weeks | full site on staging |
| Redirects, testing, launch | week 4 | 1 to 2 weeks | 301 redirect map, mobile tests |
| Post-launch follow-up | 3 months of support included | varies | monitoring of 404 errors and indexing |
What stretches timelines most is not technical: it is internal sign-off. Name one accountable partner with a 48-hour review window.
What are the risks, and how do you reduce them?
| Risk | Likelihood | Impact | Mitigation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Loss of organic traffic | medium | high | page-by-page 301 redirects, no blanket redirect to the homepage |
| Tender PDFs cited in live proposals | high | high | keep the same URLs or redirect them to the new version |
| Content migration errors | medium | medium | signed-off inventory, review by sector |
| CVs and consultant data in the old site | high | high | export, sort, delete stale records |
| Downtime during the DNS switch | low | medium | switch outside office hours, lower the TTL the day before |
| Slow pages on mobile | medium | medium | compressed images, lighter PDFs, target under 2.5 s |
On personal data, the Kenya Data Protection Act 2019 applies to CVs, contact forms and mailing lists; it is overseen by the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (ODPC). Registration obligations apply above certain thresholds: check your situation. Plan a privacy notice, explicit consent for the consultant network and a retention period, for example 24 months. On accessibility, aim for WCAG 2.2 AA, which international donors often value. This is not legal advice.
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Pre-launch checklist: URL inventory exported, redirect map tested, current PDFs checked, old CVs purged, privacy notice published, mobile test on a slow connection, full backup of the old site.
Mini case study
Illustrative example: Wanjiru is managing partner of a 25-person consultancy in Westlands, focused on governance and programme evaluation. The old site has 340 URLs, 120 of them PDFs. It gets about 2,000 organic visits a month, 25% of which land directly on PDFs, so 500 visits.
If those PDFs vanish without redirects and 1% of those visitors would have made contact, the firm loses about 5 inquiries a month. The redirect map takes roughly 2 minutes per URL, so 340 × 2 = 680 minutes, a little over 11 hours of work. Wanjiru picks Premium at $8,900 to add a French version for francophone programmes, rather than a local redesign estimated at KES 1,300,000 to 2,500,000.
FAQ
Can we keep the same URLs for the PDFs?
Yes, and it is often the best option for documents cited in live proposals. Otherwise, one 301 redirect per document is enough; allow 1 to 2 minutes per file.
How long does traffic take to settle?
With clean redirects, a temporary dip of 5 to 15% over 4 to 8 weeks is common. Without redirects, the loss can last several months.
What should we do with CVs received over the years?
Sort them before migration and delete those that no longer have a lawful basis. A 24-month retention period, stated in the notice, is a prudent benchmark.
Do we need a French version?
If at least 20% of your assignments involve francophone programmes, yes. Premium at $8,900 (the multilingual tier, languages set in the quote) covers it.
How long does a redesign with Kolonell take?
Three to four weeks if the content inventory and internal sign-offs keep pace, with 3 months of support included after launch. To scope yours, request a free quote.
Let's scope your project. A redesign with URL inventory, redirect map and document library, from $2,900 to $8,900 depending on scope, in 3 to 4 weeks. See the international offer or request a free quote: detailed reply within 48 hours.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
