Pimp that old website

Old sites that sit and gather dust (I’m talking anything that’s older than 5 years with reasonable traffic) can be compared to classic cars. Some of them has to be scrapped and resold as recycled material and other are gems that will be worth much more than their unsuspecting owners might think.

The thing is, older domains have some mojo in search engines, call it ‘age before beauty’ if you will, but they tend to perform well in search results if they were well maintained (same as with classic cars).

There is a lot of merit in redesigning your site every 3-5 years. First of all you’ll stay with the times in look and feel, and secondly you’ll stay up to date with technology, because as with computers, you can’t ever keep up with the times. That said, the old static site is kind of a timeless classic technology wise. It’ll be around for a while to come and if well maintained can increase your business dramatically. It’s not always necessary to re-invent the wheel…

There are some cool things you can do to pimp your site, but first of all, get a good web design company that knows the ins and outs of search engine optimisation. You will not only have a beautiful design, but also an intelligent design that will not just sit there with blinking text and scrolling marquees, but actually serve as your PA, constantly aligning new business, managing first point of contact with new prospects and providing 24/7 friendly service.

See your website as your shopfront. Now do you really want animated clipart kittens and blinking flower faces decorating this shopfront? Think about who you want to target, and design your new theme around it. And don’t hesitate to spend actual money. YES, it’s going to cost you something to redesign the site. If you keep on getting a backyard mechanic to fix your car you’re running a much higher risk of something breaking down more often.

Building a website should be a 12 – 24 month investment. Work out your finances accordingly, and ensure that you run at a profit after 24 months and don’t hesitate to mention that to your resident web expert. You won’t keep that brick and mortar open for long if it’s not performing, right? Sometimes things don’t work out and there are times when you have to know when to cut your losses and close up shop, but 99% of times it will be because the business plan was flawed from the start.

That is where experience in web development and online marketing comes into play. Knowing when to invest in a certain market online only comes through years of experience and experience in being able to pulse the market properly without spending your whole budget up front. That’s where pimping that old site can open up a goldmine for you.

It’s not always sunshine and roses. Cracking a competitive market sometimes takes years to master and sweating blood in the process, but perceverence will pay off if the rights steps are followed. I have seen some amazing turnarounds on existing domains that have been ‘reconditioned’ and it’s always worth getting a quote.

Just take care with older sites that have large amounts of pages as you might shoot yourself in the foot if you remove pages improperly just to lose all that (behind the scenes) momentum that’s been built up over the years. Talk to an expert to find out whether it’s worth it. Might be that your old site might just find another new lease on life and grow to make it’s owner very happy into the length of days.