6 Good Reasons Why it’s Time for a New Website

If your business’ website is underperforming, you’ve probably been asking yourself… why?

Here are the most common reasons that indicate it really is time to bite the bullet and invest in a website design that will give you ROI for a few more years to come.

1. My website is really old

Just like “dog years” time flies in the world of the web. What was acceptable 5 years ago can be outdated now. Even when “mobile first” and “responsive design” became web industry buzzwords not every web design agency was quick to adopt to the new norms.

Being out of date includes the templates you’re using. Templates aren’t always about just looking good, many include a lot of built-in functionality too.

So, you may need a fresh new design, fresh templates and maybe it’s time to consider a new CMS too.

[I saw a 2001 website built in HTML frames that was live in the same format for over 12 years! – Ed]

2. I don’t know what platform my Website’s built on

If you don’t know then that’s cool, we might be able to find out for you. But if we take a good look and then we don’t know either then that may be an issue. We can usually identify what platform a website is built on. If not then maybe it’s so unusual it will be “hard to find the parts for it”.

A custom-made website, built completely from the ground up, may have been a good idea at the time. Or maybe it was the CMS of choice from your hipster web devs fulfilling their funky, esoteric needs and not those of you the customer.

The question to ask yourself now is was it a sound business choice?

Answer these solid questions:

  • Has the website’s core code been kept updated?
  • Is the website secure, upgradeable, stable, and scalable?
  • Does your website keep up with the demands of modern browsing habits?
  • Are the needs of modern users satisfied by the latest technology?

If the answer is yes then you may be OK. But if not, then it might be a good time for a new website.

3. I don’t know where the original designer went

If you’ve got one of those custom-built websites AND your designer went AWOL, went bust, abandoned the project or moved to another platform then those are big issues too.

With a “common” CMS like WordPress, Drupal or Joomla you should be OK. You will be able to find a new designer, developer or digital marketing agency to continue developing your site. If not, then coding, designing and SEOing a bespoke site could be problematic.

Time for a new website.

4. SEO? Nobody mentioned SEO when it was built.

The website is old and on a custom-built platform.

Your designer and developer are nowhere to be found and neither of them ever mentioned Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)?

If your website wasn’t designed with SEO in mind and no optimisation has been done since the last launch then that is the reason why your site’s not doing well in search.

Time for a new website.

(See our article What, Your Web Designer didn’t SEO your Website?)

5. We’ve outgrown it

As your business grows then so should your web platform. The handful of static pages you’ve had for the last few years just don’t reflect where your business is now nor where it is going.

Besides, all your competitors have these new-fangled whizzy websites and when you check out where you rank in the search engines they always outrank you.

What you need is a sound, stable, scalable CMS that will cover every base right now and be ready to handle better content, more features and new functions.

6. We’ve rebranded

Perfect. You should be able to redesign your website by re-skinning it, in other words updating your template to reflect the new branding. But what if your site is all of the above?

It’s highly likely that you’ll have a few issues in making your old site work with a rebrand so, once again, maybe it’s time for a new website!

You know what will work? Getting Clever Marketing to build a new website.


Clever Marketing - Berkshire, Hampshire, and Surrey SEO & Digital AgencyClever marketing are a Berkshire, Hampshire, and Surrey-based digital agency and we are more than happy to consult with you on the best practice designing your next website.

We consider SEO from the very beginning and will create a successful content strategy with you. We will design and build your business a brand new, fully-functioning website that does well in the search engines, keeps your visitors happy and drives leads & conversions too.

Ready to talk? Call us on 01276 402 381 or fill in our easy contact form and we’ll be in touch.