How to tell whether your site needs a refresh, a rebuild, or nothing at all. Most sites need less than owners fear.
Redesigning a website that works is an expensive way to feel productive. Here are the signals that genuinely justify a rebuild, and the ones that do not.
Signs you actually need a rebuild
- It is not usable on a phone. More than half of New Zealand traffic is mobile, so this is not a cosmetic problem.
- You cannot update it yourself and every change costs money and waits.
- It loads slowly and nothing you have tried has fixed it.
- The business has changed and the site describes what you used to do.
- It is built on something no longer supported, which is a security problem, not a style one.
- You cannot add the thing you need, like online booking or payments.
- Enquiries have dropped and you have ruled out other causes.
Signs you do not
- You are bored of looking at it. You see it far more than your customers do.
- A competitor launched something shinier. Check whether theirs converts before copying it.
- Someone told you the design looks dated. Dated and ineffective are different problems.
The cheaper alternatives
A full rebuild is not the only option, and often not the best one.
| Problem | Cheaper fix |
|---|---|
| Looks dated | New typography, colours, and photography on the existing structure |
| Slow | Image optimisation and hosting review, often a fraction of a rebuild |
| Not converting | Rewrite the homepage copy and simplify the contact form |
| Cannot edit content | Sometimes a CMS can be added to what you have |
Try the cheap fix first when it is plausible. If it does not move the numbers, you have learned something useful and the rebuild is better informed.