The performance of your website is not great. Can it be fixed? Or is it time to start over?
Website maintenance can be the solution to a lot of problems. This is a core belief at Cybervise. Sometimes a new website isn’t the answer to all website issues. Here is a hard truth. If you go to an agency or web developer, and you say to them, “I want a new website”, they’re gonna sell you a new website. Very rarely is the conversation going to turn to, are you sure you need one?
Somewhere the belief has developed that the best way to solve marketing problems is a new website. We see this a lot when there is turnover on the marketing team. Especially at the top. First thing the new leadership wants to do is build a new website. Before taking time to look at the performance of current site.
Instead, let’s start by identifying what the problems are with your website. Then we can decide if the next step to solve them will be maintenance or a new website.
Website Maintenance Can Fix What You’ve Got.
Fix it Scenario #1 – Brand New Website.
There is this myth out there that the life of a website is only 2-5 years. No one knows who first came up with this statistics.
The problem is with replacing a website so soon after launching a new one is that you don’t know where the problems are. Especially if it has been a year or less.
When was the last time you saw Amazon or Apple or Google or even Walmart, take down their site and relaunch it? You don’t. That’s because they are always working on their sites, they don’t redesign, they don’t relaunch. Continuous improvement.
Again, I repeat my suggestion, if you never liked your site or it was never finished, make a list. You could find out its a bunch of small things that would make a big difference.
The problems we hear with new websites are things like: “We never really liked it” or “Never got finished”. If you can put some specifics to those feels. Make a list of what you don’t like. Make a list of what didn’t get finished. It’s not too late. Just a few more webmaster hours and you can get to the site you want.
Fix it Scenario #2 – Website is Already Well Maintained.
If your site has been well maintained, where everything is current. Like your software updates are all complete. Your licenses are up-to-date and your server is running the latest code. You have good bones. It will make it a lot easier and quicker to fix problems.
Problems like converting more leads from your content or speeding up page loading. All are easier to fix when you have a healthy code base to start with. You can try the latest solutions or add new plugins and stuff is a lot less likely to break.
But, if you are wondering when is the last time someone updated your website? Basic maintenance could be the fix you were looking for.
We had a client come to us this fall with their WordPress site. Things had started to break, they were getting a lot of error messages. Especially when they tried to add new product to the site. They wanted us to look at it, see if it could be fixed or was it time for a new site. All we did was get the software versions up to date. Made sure their hosting server was running the current software versions. Things started working again. Maintenance solved the problem.
Fix it Scenario #3 – SEO Anything.
SEO problems can come from many directions. It can be technical. It can be your content. It can be the quality of the user experience of your design. SEO work is ongoing work. It takes time and study to figure out where your issues are. Moving bad content to a prettier design is not going to fix your SEO traffic. Small changes are what make the difference and ongoing work on the site. March is our annual SEO Strategy webinar. If you need a list of small changes that will make a difference, join us in March.
Examples Where a Website Rebuild is No-Brainer
Rebuild it When #1 – No Access to Edit your Website Content
There are some instances where I see rebuilding is a no-brainer. And one of these cases is when the website owner does not have access to update his own website. Unfortunately this is a trend we are seeing more of. Even with WordPress sites. Which are supposed to be built to make it easy for non-developers to make website updates. Developers will use WordPress but change all the user permissions. Website owners are locked out and can’t update their websites.
Making this switch is worth it. An example of one of these projects is a new client that came to us this year. The owners decided they had had it and were getting a new website. The main phone number to their business had a type-o in it on the contact us page. They did not have access to the content to make the change. They had been calling the web developer who ran their site for five years to get it changed. Five years. It finally got fixed when their new site launched. How much business do you think that one text change cost them?
In 2025 you should have the ability to make your own website edits. If you don’t have that ability now. Consider a rebuild.
Rebuild it When #2 – Major Business Change
Rebuild when the website is no longer represents your company. Your business has changed and you need to have the website reflect better what you’re doing. Consistency across your organization is important. so it becomes like a branding, maybe even an audience situation.
This could follow a major business change. For example, you’ve got a new product line and you want to reflect in the website. It’s bigger than adding a couple of new product pages. This a big shift in your company and you want to highlight that.
Other examples of major business changes that need a website redesign:
- Something has happened where your old identity has obtained a negative association.
- Compliance or legal issue that requires major website changes or additions.
- Merger or acquisition where the website needs to reflect a new owner or a new co-brand.
Rebuild it When #3 – Site is Not Functioning
Deciding why the site is not functioning may take a little research. If the fix takes longer than a rebuild, consider a new site. Visitors have little tolerance for a non-functioning site. Do not put up with a broken website.
Why is my website broken? One of these might be the reason.
Site is going down. – A well made site does not go down on a regular basis. Get it fixed or replace it.
Themes/plugins/software no longer supported. – If your site is built with a CMS that requires regular software updates (ex. WordPress) and any of the pieces that make up your website are no longer receiving updates. You have a security issue. If this requires a rebuild to replace it, you need to do it.
Old Code = Slow site. – Servers and web browsers need your site to have the latest code to work at the highest level. If you have not been updating your site or there is a reason you are not updating your site, you will need to replace it.
Might be a better way to do it? – When you built the site there may have only been one plugin that will do what you need. But now there are choices and some that work a lot better. For example, we have a client that wanted to pick up in store when they first launched their e-commerce site. This was years ago and the only option we had was to build out a custom form for users to check out and pay in-store. Now this a standard feature with e-commerce tools, built right into the plugin.
Still Can’t Decide? Fix or Rebuild Your Website?
Cybervise can offer some help. Check our our webinar recording, “Fix it or Redesign it? New Website Plan“. Or sign-up for our Free Website Consultation. We are happy to do some initial research and help figure out which way to proceed.
