Sign 1: your site was built before 2020
The web has changed a lot in five years. The design, speed and security standards of 2019 are well behind us now. A site that's five years old or more has a good chance of having:
- A design that looks dated to the people you're trying to win over.
- Poor mobile support (before 2018, responsive layouts weren't a given).
- Weak scores on Google's Core Web Vitals.
- Old technology under the bonnet (Flash, an ancient jQuery, PHP 5).
A site that's been looked after and updated regularly can still do its job even if it dates from 2018 or 2019. Age on its own isn't the test — technical health and performance are what count.
Sign 2: your site doesn't work properly on a phone
Open your site on your phone right now. Do you have to zoom in to read the text? Are the buttons too small to tap? Is the menu awkward to use?
If the answer is yes, you're losing most of your visitors. In most European markets, more than 60% of web traffic comes from phones. A site that isn't built for them is a site working against you.
Sign 3: you're embarrassed to show it
This is the most honest test of the lot. When someone asks for your website, do you hand it over proudly, or do you add "it's a bit old" or "I'm redoing it at the moment"?
If you're apologising for your site before the other person has even seen it, you already know it no longer represents you. And if you're embarrassed by it, your potential customers will pick up on that too.
"Your website is your business card, on show all the time. If you don't want to hand it over, it's time to order a new one."
Signs 4 and 5: no enquiries and no access
Your site hasn't brought in a single enquiry for months
Have you had even one enquiry through your site in the last three months? If not, something is wrong — it isn't being found, it isn't trusted, or it isn't clear what you want people to do next. A site that works brings in enquiries, even if only a few.
You don't know who has access to your site, or how to change it
You don't have the login details. The agency that built it has closed down, or stopped replying. You depend on someone else for the smallest edit. That's a fragile position, and it's worth sorting out even if the site itself still looks fine.
Every month with a site that doesn't convert is a month of customers going to competitors with a better one. A new site (€600–€1,200, tax not included) often pays for itself in two or three new orders or clients. Do the sums for your own business.
