Websites do not become dated when the owner notices, but when visitors do. And visitors do not tell you — they simply go to a competitor. So it is worth taking an honest look at your site once a year and asking: is it still doing its job?
Here are seven verifiable signs that it is time for a redesign — and advice on how to go about it without losing what your old site has already earned.
1. The site is clumsy on a phone
More than half of all visits now come from mobile devices, and even more for local searches. If people have to zoom in to read your text, the menu does not work, or filling in the form requires the patience of a saint, you are losing the largest share of your visitors. Google also takes the mobile experience into account when ranking.
2. Loading takes more than three seconds
Every second of waiting costs you a share of visitors. Slowness is usually caused by oversized images, dated hosting and accumulated plugins. Measure your speed free of charge with PageSpeed Insights — if the mobile score is deep in the red, you have your answer.
3. The design gives away the year it was built
A visitor judges how serious you are within seconds, based on appearance. Tiny type, stretched photographs and a layout from the previous decade suggest something is amiss with the business, even when you are running it excellently. The comparison is what hurts most: your site sits on screen right next to your competitors'.
4. You cannot (or do not know how to) edit the content yourself
If changing a phone number or a price means calling your supplier — or if the supplier no longer exists — the site is not under your control. A modern site has a simple content management system that lets you handle the day-to-day changes yourself in minutes.
5. Enquiries are absent, or dwindling
A website is not decoration, it is a sales tool. If you have traffic but no enquiries, there is an obstacle somewhere along the way: an unclear offer, hidden contact details, a form that puts people off, or missing reasons to trust you (references, reviews). If there is no traffic either, the problem is visibility on Google — which brings us to the next point.
6. You are not on Google (any more)
Type in your main service and your town — "fence installation Kranj", say. If you are not on the first page, a competitor is collecting those searches. A technically dated site with thin content gradually sinks on Google, even if it once ranked well.
Tip: A drop in rankings is often the result of technical decay rather than "bad keywords". A redesign with a considered structure and fast technical foundations usually lifts SEO as well.
7. The site is not secure (or at least the browser says so)
If the browser warns visitors that your site is "not secure" because you have no SSL certificate, or if the site runs on a system that has not been updated, a redesign is a security necessity and not merely a cosmetic one.
How to redesign without losing your existing rankings
The biggest fear about a redesign is justified: done carelessly, it can lose Google rankings the old site spent years building. So with every redesign we:
- keep the content that already performs on Google and improve it,
- connect every old page address to its new one with permanent (301) redirects,
- check that meta tags, structured data and the sitemap are in order,
- monitor rankings and traffic after launch so any deviation is caught early.
What does a redesign cost?
A redesign costs roughly the same as building a new site, often slightly less because the content and photography already exist — with us a presentation site starts at €590 + VAT, and there is also rental from €39 a month with no upfront cost. We describe how a redesign runs on the website redesign page.
Frequently asked questions
How long does a redesign take?
Usually 2–4 weeks for a presentation site, depending on the scope and how quickly content is approved. The old site keeps running normally until the switch.
Will I lose my Google rankings?
Not when it is done properly — old links are carried over to the new ones with 301 redirects, and content that performs is kept and improved.
Can I keep my existing domain and email?
Yes, the domain and mailboxes stay as they are — the redesign happens under the same roof.