Updated June 14, 2026
Your website is the hardest working member of your marketing team. It’s available around the clock, it’s usually the first impression a potential client gets of your business, and unlike a brochure or a business card, it’s expected to do a lot — look great, load fast, work on every device, and be findable on search engines. That’s a tall order, and it’s one that changes over time.
So how do you know when it’s time for a redesign?
Your site is more than three to five years old
Technology moves fast. What was current in 2020 may already feel dated — and more importantly, may be underperforming in ways you can’t see. Search engine criteria change constantly, mobile usage continues to grow, and browser standards evolve. A site that was built well five years ago may have quietly fallen behind. We recommend revisiting your website every three to five years at minimum, even if nothing feels obviously broken.
Your site isn’t accessible
This is the one that tends to catch people off guard. Web accessibility — designing and building sites that can be used by people with visual, auditory, motor, or cognitive disabilities — has moved from a nice-to-have to an expectation. Common accessibility failures include insufficient color contrast, missing alt text on images, navigation that can’t be used with a keyboard, and auto-playing media. If your site hasn’t been audited for accessibility, there’s a reasonable chance it has issues worth addressing. And beyond the ethical case, there’s a growing legal conversation around accessibility that makes it worth taking seriously. We’ve written more about that here.
Your site doesn’t work well on mobile
More than half of web traffic now comes from mobile devices. If your site isn’t responsive — meaning it adapts cleanly to different screen sizes — you’re losing visitors before they’ve read a single word. This isn’t optional anymore.
Your content is stale
One of the ways search engines evaluate your site is through fresh, relevant content. A site that hasn’t been updated in years signals to both search engines and visitors that nobody’s home. Aim to update your content at least six to twelve times a year — a blog is one of the most effective ways to do this, but updated service descriptions, new portfolio work, and current testimonials all count too.
Your business has changed but your site hasn’t
New services, a new audience, a rebrand, a new location — any significant change in your business should prompt a look at whether your site still accurately reflects who you are and what you offer. If someone lands on your homepage and gets the wrong impression, that’s a problem worth fixing.
Your site is hard to update
If making basic changes to your own site requires calling a developer, that’s a sign the platform or build isn’t serving you well. A well-built modern site should give you reasonable control over your own content without needing technical help for routine updates.
When a refresh is enough — and when it isn’t
Not every issue requires a full rebuild. Sometimes a content refresh, an accessibility audit and fix, or a visual update to bring things current is all that’s needed. Other times — particularly if the underlying platform is outdated or the site structure no longer fits your business — a full rebuild is the smarter investment.
Not sure which camp you’re in? Let’s take a look together. An audit is a good place to start, and it will tell you exactly what you’re working with before you commit to anything. And if your brand needs a refresh at the same time, we can handle that too.
