Do you need a new website, or just a few fixes?

You probably need a new website if you can't update it yourself, it runs on software that's no longer supported, it doesn't work on phones and can't be made to, or your business has changed so much that the site no longer fits. If none of those apply, you probably need fixes rather than a rebuild: clearer wording, real photos, a shorter form, faster pages and more proof that people can trust you.

Many sites that feel tired have a handful of specific problems. Those can often be fixed in days, for a fraction of the cost of a new site. This guide helps you work out which situation you're in.

Where we stand: AgoraScan is made by Grid Design, a UK studio that designs and builds websites, redesigns included. So we sell both the fixes and the rebuild. We've tried to make this check fair either way.

Signs you need a new website

• You can't change your own text, photos or prices, and every small edit means paying someone
• The platform, theme or plugins are no longer updated, which is a security risk
• It doesn't work on phones, and the theme can't be made to
• It's so slow that fixing it would mean rebuilding most of it anyway
• Your business has changed, with new services, new customers or a new name, and the site's structure doesn't fit
• You don't control it: you don't have the logins, or it's tied to a supplier you can't leave
• You need something it can't do well, such as online booking or a shop

If two or more of these are true, a rebuild is often the sensible choice. Patching a site you can't edit, on software that's out of date, means paying twice.

Signs a few fixes will do

• You can edit it yourself, even if it's a bit fiddly
• It's on a current, supported platform, such as an up-to-date WordPress theme, Wix, Squarespace or Shopify
• It works on phones, even if some parts look off
• The problems you can name are specific: a vague headline, stock photos, a long form, a phone number that's hard to find
• Customers who get in touch don't complain about it
• Enquiries dropped because something changed, like a broken form or a lost Google listing, not because the site got older

In our experience, many of the things that make a site feel outdated fall into this second group. They're about content and details, not the design or the technology underneath.

How to tell if a website looks outdated

Visitors pick up on age quickly. These are the signs that most often make a site feel old:

• A copyright year, news post or event from years ago
• Prices, opening hours, staff or services that are no longer right
• Obvious stock photos
• Small, hard-to-read text, or text in light grey
• A rotating carousel of slides at the top
• A "Welcome to our website" headline
• A layout that doesn't fit a phone screen
• Browser warnings that the site isn't secure

Look at that list again. Most of it is content, not design. Updating the content fixes it without a new site.

Questions to answer before you decide

1. Can you update the text, photos and prices yourself?
2. Is the platform or theme still receiving updates?
3. Do you have the logins for your domain, hosting and website?
4. Does it do what the business needs now, such as bookings, a shop or quote requests?
5. Does it work on your phone: readable, easy to tap, no sideways scrolling?
6. Does the homepage say what you do and where, on the first screen?
7. Are there real reviews and photos of your real work?
8. Are prices, hours, staff and services all correct?
9. Is it reasonably quick to load on a phone?

A no to any of the first four questions is structural, and often points to a rebuild. A no to any of the others can usually be fixed on the site you have, unless the theme itself is causing it.

Why it's worth checking before you redesign

A new website for a small business commonly costs thousands of pounds. If a redesign is going to cost you £3,000 or more, spending £29 first on an audit to find out what's actually wrong is cheap insurance. If it shows a short list of fixable problems, you may not need the redesign. If it shows the problems are structural, you've got a ready-made list for whoever builds the new site, and a way to check the new one fixes them.

To be clear about the limits: an audit looks at your pages. It won't tell you whether your business has outgrown your site, whether your platform is about to stop being supported, or whether you own your domain. Those are questions only you, or your web person, can answer.

A redesign also doesn't fix things by itself. A new site with the same vague headline, the same stock photos and the same long form is likely to perform much like the old one. Write down what's wrong with the current site before anyone starts designing.

If you do go for a new website

• Make sure you own the domain and have every login
• Keep your page addresses, or set up redirects, so you don't lose your Google rankings
• Write the content first, then design around it
• Choose a platform you can update yourself
• Check the new site against the same list before it goes live

Either way, the free check below is a sensible first step. It looks at a page on desktop and mobile and shows your top three problems with screenshots, so you can see whether they're the fixable kind.