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What comes to mind when you think of an outdated website? Your answer will depend on how far back you’ve seen the internet, but it could range anywhere from glossy interfaces to the default blue, Times New Roman links.
But even a few years of age could put your website behind the competition, even if it doesn’t look like MySpace or the first version of IMDB. Its audience and goals could outgrow its design, especially if you don’t make small changes often. Plus, there are all sorts of technical updates you can get behind on that your visitors don’t even see.
So, how much does your website’s age affect its performance, and how should you plan its updates? We teamed up with Perrill and other partners to learn the results of website updates and when you should perform them. While monitoring data from our Google Search Console and Google Analytics 4 Benchmark Group, we surveyed companies about their website age and update history.
Here’s what we learned from our research:
Databox, Perrill, and their partners surveyed more than 145 companies about the connection between website age and performance and what those companies do about it.
Most of the respondents represent small to medium businesses, with 77.55% of them coming from companies with 50 or fewer employees.
Half of the respondents consider the main purpose of their website to be to generate new qualified leads or sales as part of their pipeline as opposed to more informational purposes.
The majority of survey participants like how their websites perform. More than 40% of them rate their website performance as “good,” while more than 30% of them rate it as “excellent.”
Many of the companies that responded to our survey also seem to prioritize website redesigns. About 49% of respondents performed a full redesign within the past two years. On top of that, the overwhelming majority of the remaining respondents redesigned their websites within the past three to four years or performed small updates within the last year.
Plenty of survey participants have noticed issues with an outdated website in the past, such as a decrease in leads or traffic. Meanwhile, just 14% state they hadn’t noticed any changes.
But even when these problems appear, some respondents have reasons to take their time updating. 40.15% of survey participants consider SEO concerns the top reason holding them back from updating their website, with the other top reasons being time and budget constraints.
When they do update their website, respondents want to keep their redesign budget lean. 50% think a redesign should cost less than $10,000, with just over 30% thinking it should cost between $10,000 and $20,000.
If you’re considering updating your website due to age, you might wonder what level of performance should encourage you to redesign it. Even when you haven’t seen a dip in performance recently, you might not know how your competitors compare.
Let’s go over the median metrics for June 2024 from our Google Search Console and Google Analytics 4 Benchmarks Benchmark Group, where thousands of participants anonymously share their website performance metrics. You can join this group as well to get regular updates on group metrics.
In June, all participants had a median of 4.32K sessions in GA4, based on data from 8768 contributors. But looking at that same data, top performers had a median of 19.62K sessions, leaving room for regular contributors to improve almost five times as much.
Moving on to Google Search Console data from the same group, 3273 contributors had a median of 63.75K impressions in June. There’s also a gap between regular and top performers here, with top performers getting a whopping median of 271.15K impressions.
You’ll see a similar pattern in median clicks for regular and top performers. According to data from 3271 contributors, all of the contributors had a median of 1.17K clicks in June. Meanwhile, top performers had more than four times as many clicks with a median of 5.21K.
Curious about how your company stacks up against competitors in terms of clicks, sessions, and impressions? Join the Google Search Console and Google Analytics 4 Benchmark Group anonymously and free of charge!
While these improvements show how an update can help your performance, a redesign is a big investment of your time and budget. Updating your website at an ideal time will help you get the most out of those resources. When we asked respondents when they recommend updating your website, they shared three types of strategies:
If you notice your website engagement metrics declining and don’t have a clear explanation for it, it may be time to update your site. Two respondents suggested this metrics-based approach.
Bogdan Krstic of Krstic SEO takes a hardline approach: “There is no right time. When conversions are not coming in, you should change things. Doesn’t matter if it’s in 30, 90, or even more days.”
But, if you don’t have the resources to make a comprehensive update despite a lower conversion rate, you can try making smaller changes. Our guide to website conversion rate optimization shares possible areas to adjust, such as calls to action, site speed, and contact pages.
Republic Marketing’s Sajad Entesari uses a data-informed approach as well. “It’s best to look at the data, whether that is GA4, session recording, or sales data. When we see a sustained decline in leading KPIs (such as website conversion rate) that cannot be explained by seasonality or other factors, it might be the right time to consider refreshing the site’s design and content. We also examine traffic volume and value, session time, and engagement metrics,” Entesari says.
But these declines tend to happen at schedules that vary by industry. Entesari notices opportunities for updates at these intervals: “On average, for local businesses, we recommend a full redesign every two to three years. For tech companies, however, once a year is more appropriate. Homepages and service pages often need regular updates once every three months, even if they are just small adjustments. These regular adjustments help keep the conversion rate stable. Without them, the conversion rate can drop by 20-30% within nine months, and other KPIs may start to show a decline as well.”
The Republic Marketing team practices what they preach by updating their site quite often. Entesari says, “As a digital agency, our website is crucial for lead generation and conversion. That’s why we have consistently redesigned our site almost once a year for the past two years, and we are currently rolling out our new site soon!”
Two respondents also have updated schedules to share. Pay attention to the recommended intervals for your industry and keep an eye on your KPIs to find the right schedule for your website.
“While minor updates should be done throughout the year as needed, major website updates should typically be done every two to four years,” says Andrew Meyer from Arbor. “This allows you to stay competitive and relevant without maxing out your web design budget every year. Think about new content, industry trends, SEO, major events, the latest technology, popular keywords, and of course responsive design when undertaking a major revamp.
Andy Crestodina of Orbit Media Studios suggests these schedules for different industries:
“Every three to four years for tech and design companies. Every four to five years for most other industries. Very slow-moving industries (some manufacturing categories) can get five or more years of life out of their sites.”
Andy Crestodina
Co-Founder and CMO at Orbit Media Studios
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Everything going on in the rest of your business also affects the ideal time to update your site. If you align your redesign with the rhythm of your business, you can handle the transition that comes with it more effectively.
Findaband’s Sam Browne recommends saving updates for slower periods. “The best time to update a website is during slower business periods. This allows for a smooth transition without disrupting user experience. Regular updates keep the website fresh and aligned with current trends. It also ensures security and functionality remain top-notch.”
Meanwhile, Sajwal Pageni of Jetdocs points out the benefits of pushing an update before a major marketing or sales campaign. “The new user influx with this campaign should see everything you wanna show them with the most updated version, not the old outdated info that might not resonate with them. So before sales cold email campaigns, paid ads, et cetera.”
These aren’t necessarily conflicting views. Look for times when you’ll have the resources for a redesign with compatible campaigns on the horizon.
So far, we’ve learned that frequent updates are good for your website. But not all elements have to change. When we asked respondents what elements they prefer to keep between updates, they provided three types to consider:
If you have a tool or content that keeps your site competitive, keep it on board as you update your website. While you should still perform regular upkeep on those pages, you don’t have to completely change them if they’re still working.
For example, Ruby Home’s Tony Mariotti could never change the website’s trademark tool. “One part of our website I would never change is our comprehensive property search tool. It’s essential for our users to find luxury homes quickly and easily. This tool is a core feature that sets us apart from competitors. Maintaining its functionality and reliability is crucial for our business success,” Mariotti says.
Updating your site also doesn’t mean you have to perform a full rebrand. In fact, unless you were already planning on rebranding, you’ll come off as more consistent if your new site follows your main brand elements.
“As for now, I think one element we’d never consider updating is our company’s core branding elements, like our logo and primary color scheme,” Vasy Kafidoff of Writing Metier OÜ says. “We may apply some simple changes and stick to colors, but not anything significant. All these elements are integral to our brand identity and recognition. I think that changing them could confuse our customers and weaken our brand consistency.”
These brand elements can also include messaging, such as a mission and values statement. Kaitlyn Siu considers this part of Teach Your Kids Code’s branding its most crucial:
“I would never consider updating our mission and values statement on our website. It serves as the foundation of our organization’s identity and remains constant as our guiding principles, providing clarity and consistency to our audience.”
Kaitlyn Siu
Founder at Teach Your Kids Code
When you redesign your website, consider how your visitors navigate it and how much of that experience you want to keep. Professionals like Md Mehedi Hasan of Techi Aid prefer to keep the core navigation structure of their websites to keep a consistent experience for repeat visitors.
“I would never consider updating the core navigation menu of my website,” Hasan says. “The navigation menu serves as the roadmap for users, guiding them through the site’s content and functionality. Consistency in navigation ensures that visitors can easily find what they’re looking for, fostering a positive user experience.”
Hasan continues, “Frequent changes to the menu structure can confuse and frustrate users, leading to higher bounce rates and decreased engagement. Therefore, maintaining a stable and intuitive navigation system is essential for user satisfaction and the overall usability of the website. Any updates should focus on enhancing the existing structure rather than fundamentally altering it.”
If you notice room for improvement in your website metrics, is updating your site worth the obstacles that hold back our survey participants? Eight companies shared their experiences with updating their websites with mostly positive things to say.
For Voissee’s Arum Karunianti, a website update improved performance and engagement across the board.
Better performance led to more engaged leads. Karunianti says, “The loading times decreased by 40%, which led to a 25% increase in the average time users spent on the site. Additionally, the bounce rate dropped by 15%, and there was a 20% rise in the conversion rate. SEO rankings improved, resulting in a 30% increase in organic traffic. Overall, the user feedback was overwhelmingly positive, highlighting the enhanced user interface and mobile responsiveness.”
The We Love Doodles team noticed a similar boost in engagement when they updated their website. They also developed a new SEO strategy to go along with the redesign, allowing the results to build on each other.
Garrett Yamasaki says, “After updating our website, we experienced significant improvements in various key metrics. The revamped design and enhanced user interface led to a 30% increase in site engagement, as visitors found navigating and accessing our content easier. Our mobile traffic surged by 40%, reflecting the site’s optimized mobile responsiveness, which is crucial in today’s digital age, where many users browse on their phones.”
Here’s how that all comes into play with the SEO strategy added on: “Finally, our updated SEO strategy, implemented during the redesign, resulted in a 25% boost in organic search traffic. This increase can be attributed to better-structured content, faster load times, and improved keyword targeting process, contributing to a 20% rise in conversion rates.”
For the Sprii team, updating their old website was overall an improvement, but it came with some extra obstacles to overcome. According to Jonathan Bräuner Delfs, the update led to a “strengthened brand” and a “big bump up in our organic traffic in the time around our migration.”
But, Delfs then saw lower traffic after the update. The team ended up “having to get back on track with the SEO-migration process because of changed URLs, managing 301 redirects, and doing spring cleaning in our content area.”
Click Intelligence saw two important metrics improve after a website update – bounce rate and conversion rate. Here’s what Simon Brisk has to say about the redesign:
“When we updated our website, we saw a noticeable improvement in user engagement. The bounce rate decreased by 15%, indicating that visitors were staying on our site longer. Our conversion rate increased by 12%, leading to a higher number of inquiries and sales.”
Simon Brisk
Founder at Click Intelligence
After updating his coaching website, Luke Van Der Veer had more visitors and higher engagement from them. Like other respondents, Van Der Veer noticed a connection between the improved design and customer response.
Van Der Veer says, “After updating my website, I noticed a huge increase in internet visibility and user engagement. It became more enticing to visitors due to the updated look and enhanced functioning, which increased average session lengths and decreased bounce rates.”
Van Der Veer adds, “Additionally, the website’s improved mobile responsiveness enhanced the user experience on smartphones and tablets, drawing in a larger audience. The overall effect of the website change was to boost our online visibility, which in turn increased conversion rates and helped our company expand and succeed.”
At VanDerKolk Painting, Brianna Barcheski and the rest of the team performed a redesign centered around conversion rate optimization, and the strategy paid off.
Barcheski says, “We saw a 23% increase in conversions, which was fantastic! We have attributed this increase to changes we made to the design for conversion rate optimization purposes. We added a form on every page of the site and made the call to action button in our navigation stand out more with a different colored background.”
Timing also had an important role to play in the update. “We wanted to minimize any potential negative impacts as much as possible. We decided to update our website during our slow season in the winter so that we didn’t hurt our busy season and could potentially set ourselves up for an even busier busy season,” Barcheski says.
According to Eugenia Gilmore, Zyte experienced a recent site redesign that grew website KPIs and received positive feedback. Gilmore says, “Here’s a breakdown of the results:
Ali Husnain and the Reloadux team had some of the most dramatic results among these stories. Husnain shares these improvements from the latest update: “Our web traffic soared by 150%, resulting in a substantial increase in user engagement. The bounce rate dropped by 60%, indicating that visitors were staying longer and exploring more pages. Additionally, conversions saw a remarkable uptick of 80%, underscoring the update’s effectiveness in driving tangible business outcomes.”
As you update your website or want to pitch a redesign to someone else, you’ll need the means to check age and update history. Here are two frequently asked questions about that process.
There are a few ways to check a website’s age depending on if you own it or not.
Here are two options if you own your website:
If you don’t own the website you want to update or can’t find its age using the above methods, you can check when it was first indexed with a quick Google search. Follow these steps:
This method isn’t foolproof and can show later index dates, but it can help you if you have an approximate idea of the website’s age already.
You can check when a website was last updated using an HTTP header checker tool, regardless of whether you own it or not.
Use a tool such as Keycdn to check the website’s HTTP header for free. Look for the “last-modified” field in the output you get, and you’ll find the date of the most recent update.
Your website performance numbers don’t mean much when you don’t have benchmarks to compare them with.
That’s why we created Databox Benchmark Groups. These groups let you anonymously share your data in exchange for group-wide trends. And all you need is a Databox account connected to the metrics you want to compare.
Join the Google Search Console and Google Analytics 4 Benchmark Group today to see how companies like you perform in metrics like clicks, sessions, and impressions. There’s no extra cost to join.
Are you maximizing your business potential? Stop guessing and start comparing with companies like yours.
At Databox, we’re obsessed with helping companies more easily monitor, analyze, and report their results. Whether it’s the resources we put into building and maintaining integrations with 100+ popular marketing tools, enabling customizability of charts, dashboards, and reports, or building functionality to make analysis, benchmarking, and forecasting easier, we’re constantly trying to find ways to help our customers save time and deliver better results.
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Melissa King is a freelance writer who helps B2B SaaS companies spread the word about their products through engaging content. Outside of the content marketing world, she writes about video games. Check out her work at melissakingfreelance.com.
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