Websites age faster than owners expect. A site that felt sharp five years ago can quietly be costing you leads today — not because it broke, but because customer expectations, Google’s standards, and your competitors all kept moving. Here are the seven signs we see most often, and what fixing them should cost.
The seven signs
- 1. It’s awkward on a phone. Most local searches happen on mobile. If visitors pinch, zoom, or hunt for the phone number, they leave — and Google ranks you accordingly.
- 2. It loads slowly. Every extra second of load time bleeds visitors. Old themes, bloated page builders, and oversized images are the usual culprits.
- 3. You can’t update it yourself. If changing a price requires calling whoever built it, the site is working against you.
- 4. It doesn’t show up on Google. No titles, no structure, no schema — a redesign done right fixes the foundation your rankings sit on.
- 5. It looks like its era. Visitors judge trustworthiness in about three seconds, and dated design reads as “is this business still open?”
- 6. Competitors clearly out-present you. Side-by-side, customers pick the business that looks like it has its act together.
- 7. It generates nothing. No calls, no form fills, no quote requests. A website that doesn’t produce leads isn’t an asset — it’s a monument.
What a redesign should cost
For a small business, a professional redesign typically runs $1,500–$5,000; e-commerce and custom functionality push higher. Be suspicious at both extremes: a $400 redesign is a template swap that fixes nothing structural, while five-figure quotes for a basic local site usually fund an agency’s overhead, not your results.
What to demand for the money
A real redesign rebuilds the foundation, not just the paint: mobile-first layout, fast load times, on-page SEO and schema baked in, forms that route leads to your phone and inbox, and training so your team can edit content. If a proposal doesn’t include those, it’s a facelift, not a redesign.
Wondering which category your site falls in? Read about how we build websites, or request a free quote — we’ll review your current site honestly, including telling you if a few targeted fixes beat a full rebuild.