The verdict in three sentences
For an art gallery and art advisory in Dubai, the website is the permanent showroom that collectors, family offices and advisers check before any meeting, often on a phone during a fair. A redesign is justified once the artists, exhibitions or visuals no longer reflect the gallery's reality, and the budget ranges from roughly 4,000 to 55,000 USD with a local provider, against a fixed Kolonell grid of 2,900, 4,900 and 8,900 USD. The main risk lies less in design than in losing existing search visibility on artist names and publishing works without clear permission.
Is your current site hurting the gallery with collectors?
The same signals come up often in galleries in Alserkal Avenue, DIFC or Jumeirah. The list below helps you decide quickly.
| Signal | What the collector concludes | Severity |
|---|---|---|
| Represented artists not updated for over a year | The gallery lost its artists or is not keeping up | High |
| Compressed images, wrong colours | The work cannot be judged remotely | High |
| Current exhibition missing from the home page | Abandoned site | Medium |
| No Arabic version, or a poorly aligned one | Gallery weakly rooted locally | Medium to high |
| "Price on request" form that never replies | Lack of seriousness, lost inquiry | High |
| Mobile load time over 4 seconds | Drop-off during the fair | Medium |
| No page for the art advisory service | Advisory stays invisible and unsold | Medium |
What does a redesign cost in Dubai in 2026?
Local ranges are a 2026 ballpark from typical UAE agency quotes, converted approximately from AED to USD. Kolonell prices are fixed, in USD.
| Option | Budget | Indicative timeline | What is included |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dubai freelancer | 4,000 to 12,000 USD (about 15,000 to 44,000 AED) | 4 to 8 weeks | Variable, often no copywriting or Arabic |
| Mid-size local agency | 14,000 to 30,000 USD | 8 to 14 weeks | Design, CMS, sometimes Arabic |
| High-end Dubai studio | 30,000 to 55,000 USD and up | 12 to 20 weeks | Art direction, photography, multilingual |
| Kolonell Starter | 2,900 USD | 3 to 4 weeks | Polished showcase site, native English copywriting |
| Kolonell Growth | 4,900 USD | 3 to 4 weeks | Structured artist and exhibition pages, more content |
| Kolonell Premium | 8,900 USD | 4 to 6 weeks | Multilingual tier, languages and RTL scope set in the quote |
| Maintenance after the 3 included months | 150 to 600 USD a month (market assumption) | Monthly | At Kolonell: on quote |
Every Kolonell tier includes a project manager reachable in your time zone, native English or French copywriting, and 3 months of support. Gated areas (private viewing rooms for collectors), integrations with gallery inventory software and custom apps are priced on quote. Details are on the international offer.
Timeline and risks: how to redesign without breaking the gallery
Kolonell timelines (3 to 4 weeks, Premium 4 to 6) start once content is ready: artist list, texts, authorised high-resolution visuals.
| Phase | Indicative duration | Risk | Mitigation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inventory | Week 1 | Losing pages that rank on artist names | URL inventory and Search Console data |
| Content and rights | Weeks 1 to 2 | Publishing a work without the artist's or rights holder's consent | Permissions register per work |
| Design and build | Weeks 2 to 3 | Inconsistent English and Arabic versions | Bilingual review of key templates |
| Migration | Week 3 | Dead links from press and fairs | Complete 301 redirect map |
| Go-live | Week 4 | Downtime during an exhibition | Switch outside opening nights, rollback planned |
Two compliance points. Federal Decree-Law No. 45 of 2021 governs personal data in the UAE, while DIFC and ADGM have their own regimes: a price inquiry form should collect only the essentials. Anti-money-laundering rules increasingly apply to art market participants in several jurisdictions: check your position with your adviser before adding online payment. This is not legal advice.
Questions to ask any provider: who produces the redirect map? Who checks image rights? Can the team add an exhibition in 15 minutes in the CMS? How is the Arabic version proofread?
When is a local agency the better choice? If you need on-site photography of works in Dubai, physical presence at meetings with artists, or a budget of 30,000 USD and up covering digital scenography and a launch campaign, a studio on the ground will often fit better.
Need a professional website?
Kolonell builds websites that attract clients, optimized for the Sénégalese market. Free quote in 2 minutes.
Mini case study
Illustrative example: Qamar Contemporary, a 6-artist gallery in Alserkal Avenue with an advisory practice. Founder Leila compares a 26,000 USD local quote with the 8,900 USD Kolonell Premium tier for an English and Arabic version.
The gap is 26,000 − 8,900 = 17,100 USD. She sets aside 3,500 USD for a local photo shoot of the works and 1,200 USD for Arabic proofreading by an independent translator, 13,600 USD in total. That leaves 12,400 USD toward a fair participation, before maintenance, which she will have priced on quote.
FAQ
What does a gallery website redesign cost in Dubai in 2026?
Local quotes run from about 4,000 to 55,000 USD depending on the provider. At Kolonell the grid is fixed: 2,900, 4,900 or 8,900 USD.
Is the Arabic version included?
Multilingual work belongs to the Premium tier (8,900 USD); languages and RTL scope are set in the quote. Plan a review by a native speaker.
Can we show artwork prices?
That is a commercial choice: many galleries keep "price on request". What matters is that every inquiry gets a reply within 24 hours.
Will we lose our search visibility on artist names?
The risk is real without a redirect plan. A URL inventory and 301 redirects sharply limit the loss in the 2 to 3 months after go-live.
How long does it take?
At Kolonell, 3 to 4 weeks once content is ready, 4 to 6 weeks for Premium. Authorised visuals are often the limiting factor.
Let's scope your project. A gallery redesign with artist pages, exhibitions and an Arabic version usually sits between Growth and Premium, delivered in 3 to 6 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.
