I heard from a client this morning that one of their websites had gone kaput. Its age? Well over 10 years 😳 If you’re like this client (and most of my clients), your general rule of thumb might be to keep your website until it literally breaks beyond repair because it’s become so outdated.
Which got me thinking… what is the average lifespan of a website?
Read on to learn what happens to your website as the years go by, and why you might do better to have a redesign sooner than you initially thought…
Oh, baby baby! 0 – 3 years
This is the prime of your website’s life. It’s modern, fast, and uses the latest design trends! Now is the time to drive as much traffic as you can to your website using all your channels like blogging, email marketing, and social media.
Showing its age: 4 – 6 years
Nothing good lasts forever, and after four years on the interwebs, design trends will inevitably have changed, and your website may start to show its age a bit. While it still might function well enough, i.e., users can still access all pages on their devices, it won’t come across as the modern force it once did.
Things fall apart: 7-10 years
After seven years in existence, parts of your website may begin to break. A plugin that is no longer maintained. A theme that needs to be updated. We simply can’t know now what the Internet will look like in 7+ years, and there will undoubtedly be things new websites will be able to do that leave your website in the dust a bit.
It’s all over now: 11+ years
If you have a website that’s been up for 11 years or more – congratulations! You have yourself an antique. Which, hey, is great if you’re decorating your grandma’s living room, but not so hot if you’re trying to market your business. If your website still functions, it’s a miracle of miracles, and probably won’t for much longer.
In Closing…
Your website is the cornerstone of your marketing efforts to bring in new customers. Do you want to drive it into the ground, continuing even when it’s old and rusty, the check engine light always on, and risking it breaking down at the worst possible time? Or do you want to trade it in every few years, so you always have the best possible ride that gives you (and your business) everything you need? It’s up to you.
