Bringing acquired brands onto one website

Growth by acquisition leaves marketing teams with a tricky website problem. Several brands, several sites, several audiences, and a new umbrella brand that has to hold them together.

The same questions come up every time. Here’s how we approach them.

Decide the system before the pages

The first new pages usually get designed one at a time, and each one drifts a little. Before building more, agree the core: one type system, one layout system, one set of components. Every brand then lives inside it.

Give each legacy brand an accent, not its own site

Customers who knew the old brands still need to recognise them. A controlled accent colour per product family, used above the fold and in graphics, keeps that recognition without splitting the design. The rules for where accents appear matter more than the colours themselves.

Choose what moves and what stays

Some brands fold in completely. Others keep their identity and become ‘powered by’ the parent. Decide this per brand early, because it changes navigation, URLs and redirects.

Protect search before you switch anything off

Each old site has pages that rank and links pointing at them. Map every valuable URL to its new home, set up redirects and check them after launch, or the traffic that came with the acquisition quietly disappears.

Build one place for the content

Guides and articles from each brand work harder together. One content hub, organised by topic rather than by old brand, gives readers and search engines a single clear place to go.

Keep it moving after launch

Consolidation isn’t one launch. Brands keep moving over months. That’s where a steady website partner helps: someone who knows the system and can bring each brand in without starting over.