Start with what is actually wrong

People usually say the site looks dated. When we dig in, the real problem is different. Nobody can tell what the business does, or the phone number is buried, or it takes eight seconds to load on a phone. Those are three different jobs with three different price tags.

So before deciding anything, name the symptom. Traffic arriving but not enquiring is a wording and structure problem. No traffic at all is a search and visibility problem. Enquiries from the wrong kind of customer is a positioning problem.

When a redesign is enough

If the site is quick, you can edit it, and the structure roughly matches how you sell, then you are looking at new wording, a clearer top of page, and better proof. That is a modest job with a strong return.

When to start again

Start again if the site is slow and nothing fixes it. If you cannot edit your own text. If it needs paying somebody every month just to keep standing. If adding one new service means rebuilding half of it.

Also start again if you have outgrown it. A site built for a one person operation rarely stretches to a team of eight with three service lines.

The awkward middle

There is a version where the site half works, so nobody can justify replacing it, and it quietly underperforms for years. That is the most expensive option of all. If you recognise it, decide one way or the other.

How to decide in an afternoon

Write down every enquiry you got last month and where it came from. If almost none came from the site, you have your answer. If plenty came from the site but most were the wrong sort of job, you need positioning, not a rebuild.