How Do You Know if it’s Time for a New Website? Here are 5 Ways You Can Tell

Is it time to replace, upgrade, or refresh your website?

For a lot of marketing professionals and business owners, this isn’t an interesting hypothetical question. It’s more like a dilemma: on the one hand, deciding to rebuild your existing website takes time, money, and effort. On the other hand, putting the project off means you could fall farther behind your competitors, miss out on leads, and be running a less-than-ideal website.

That conundrum hit home for me recently. I was at a barbecue hosted by one of my friends (who also happens to be a GoingClear client). He introduced me to another friend who works in a marketing department. In between burgers and drinks, this new acquaintance pulled me aside and explained he was having a hard time figuring out whether he should keep going with his current website. The existing site was about 4 years old. He wasn’t sure if he would be better off making just a few changes or hiring a web design and development company to start again from scratch. 

I shared with him the five points we use when helping clients decide whether they need a new website. In this post, I’ll outline them briefly for you, as well. Do any of the following apply to your business?

#1 Your Website Is Looking a Little Tired

This is probably the least pressing reason to upgrade your website. But it’s also the one we hear most often.

If you simply don’t like the way your website looks or feel like it’s making a negative impression on potential clients, then you could consider making a change (or at least some improvements).

#2 Your Business or Focus Has Moved Beyond Your Website

Sometimes, your website is fine in a vacuum, but your business itself has changed. You might have a new focus, serve different industries, find your positioning has changed, or offer new products, services, prices, etc.

You can’t market your company today with a website that was built to promote things as they were years ago.

#3 Your Existing Website is Slow or Crashes

Websites – like cars, computers, and other pieces of business equipment—need to be overhauled or replaced from time to time. Older apps, old coding or frameworks running, and/or web pages with errors (common examples of technical issues) will cause problems.

Issues like slow page loading times usually hide bigger causes. These can cause you to lose sales opportunities or, worse, leave you open to attacks from hackers or malware injections.

Check your website for problems with our free technical website audit tool.

#4 Your Competitors Have All Passed You Online

It could be the case that your website was at the top of the market and industry and search engine listings when you launched it. However, over the years, your competitors might have caught up or even surpassed you in terms of web design, performance, and functionality.

If that’s the case, then every day you wait means you’re giving your rivals a bigger head start before you catch up. This reality is even more important for those with B2B websites

Wondering how your website stacks up? Read our 22 ‘Must-Haves’ for B2B Websites.

#5 You Aren’t Getting the Online Results You Expect

I’ve saved the most important issue for last. If your website isn’t functioning as a sales and marketing tool (which usually means it isn’t helping you convert visitors into leads), then it’s time to make changes.

Digital marketing is your single most powerful avenue for bringing fresh, qualified leads and sales opportunities to your company. If you aren’t getting those results, then something is wrong with your current website or approach.

The Next Question: Rebuild, Redesign, or Start Fresh?

If you aren’t worried about any of the five issues I’ve laid out here, then you probably don’t need a new website. You might benefit from a website audit or a refreshed design, but there is no need to fix what isn’t broken.

Assuming you do have one or more of these problems, however, the next question involves what to do about it. We usually walk  website clients through a few options:

• Making small design or programming changes to an existing website
• Refreshing the core of the website and graphics without  going all the way into a complete rebuild
• Launching a completely new website design and development project, complete with a fresh design, new positioning, added functionality, and a user-friendly CMS admin system as well 

Naturally, finding the right solution will depend greatly on your needs, budget, and timing. When considering your options, it’s good to weigh the cost of starting fresh against making smaller, incremental improvements that can add to your expenses over time (while sometimes putting off the inevitable).

Of course, the right web design agency can help you find the perfect plan. Want to make sure your next step is the right one? Check out our free guide: 21 Things to Consider When Hiring a Web Design Company.

Or, contact us today to set up a free consultation and see how we can help!