Your website has been working fine for five years. Maybe it still looks okay. It loads. People can find your contact information. So why would you spend money updating it?

I get it. If it's not broken, why fix it?

Here's the thing: your website might not be completely broken, but it could be costing you customers without you even knowing it. Let me share the warning signs I see when Triad businesses come to me asking why their website isn't working like it used to.

Sign #1: Your Website Looks Like It's From 2015 (Because It Is)

Web design trends change. Not as fast as fashion, but faster than you might think. A website from 2015 looks as dated today as a website from 2005 looked in 2015.

How can you tell if your site looks old? Here are the telltale signs:

Flash animations or splash screens. If your website has any kind of "Enter Site" button or animated intro, that's a huge red flag. Flash is actually dead—most browsers won't even run it anymore.

Tiny text that requires zooming. Older sites often have text that's way too small on modern screens.

Cluttered layouts. Ten years ago, websites tried to cram everything onto the homepage. Modern design uses more white space and focuses on what actually matters.

Outdated color schemes. Remember when everything was gradients and glossy buttons? Yeah, that ages a site fast.

Stock photos that look too "stock." You know the ones—overly posed people shaking hands with huge fake smiles. Modern sites use more authentic imagery.

Why does this matter? Because visitors make snap judgments. Studies show people form an opinion about your website in about 50 milliseconds—that's faster than you can blink.

If your site looks old, people assume your business is old-fashioned too. Even if that's not fair, it's reality.

Sign #2: It Looks Terrible on Phones

Pull out your phone right now and look at your website. Does it:

Require you to pinch and zoom to read anything?
Have text that runs off the edge of the screen?
Have buttons too small to tap accurately?
Load incredibly slowly?
Look like a miniature version of the desktop site?

If you answered yes to any of those, you have a problem.

Over 60% of web traffic now comes from mobile devices. For some industries, it's even higher. If your site doesn't work well on phones, you're losing more than half your potential customers.

I had a client—a contractor in Greensboro—who couldn't figure out why his website traffic was good but he wasn't getting calls. Turns out his phone number on mobile required zooming in to see it, and the click-to-call didn't work. People would give up and call the next company on Google instead.

We fixed his mobile site, and his call volume went up 40% in the first month. Same traffic, more conversions, just because people could actually use the site on their phones.

Sign #3: Your Content Is Seriously Outdated

Take an honest look at your website. Does it say:

"Celebrating 15 years in business!" (but now it's 20)
"Call us today!" with a phone number you haven't used in three years
Team photos of people who don't work there anymore
Blog posts where the most recent one is from 2019
"Check out our new location!" that opened in 2017

Outdated content sends a message: this business doesn't care about their online presence. And if they don't care about their website, what else don't they care about?

I'm not saying you need to update your website every week. But basic information—your services, your contact information, your team—should be current. A blog with the last post from 2019 is worse than no blog at all. It tells visitors you started something and abandoned it.

Sign #4: You Can't Update It Yourself (Or It's Incredibly Difficult)

Here's a common scenario: You need to change your hours on your website. Maybe you're closing early for a holiday, or you've extended your hours.

So you either:

Call your web developer and wait three days for them to change two lines of text (and maybe pay $50 for it)
Try to update it yourself and spend 45 minutes fighting with your website backend
Just give up and leave the old information

None of those options are good.

Your website should be easy for you to update. Not "easy if you have a computer science degree." Actually easy. Change text, swap photos, add a new service—these should take minutes, not hours.

If your current website makes simple updates feel like solving a Rubik's cube, it's time for something better.

Modern content management systems are designed for regular people to use. You shouldn't need to understand code to change your business hours.

Sign #5: It's Not Bringing You Any Business

This is the big one. Your website exists for one reason: to help your business. If it's not doing that, what's the point?

Ask yourself:

When's the last time someone mentioned finding you through your website?
Do you get contact form submissions?
Does your Google Analytics show decent traffic? (And do you even have Google Analytics installed?)
Can you remember the last time you got a new customer because of your website?

If you can't answer these questions, or the answers are "never" or "I don't know," your website isn't working for you.

Sometimes the problem is the website itself—it's slow, confusing, or doesn't clearly explain what you do. Sometimes the problem is that nobody can find it because it's not optimized for search engines. Sometimes it's both.

A website shouldn't be something you pay for and forget about. It should be actively bringing you customers.

The Real Cost of Waiting

I know what you're thinking: "An update sounds expensive. Maybe I'll just wait another year."

Here's what that year of waiting costs:

Let's say your outdated website causes you to lose just one customer per month compared to what you'd get with a modern, mobile-friendly site. What's the lifetime value of a customer to your business?

For most businesses, it's at least a few hundred dollars. Many businesses, it's thousands. So that year of waiting could cost you $5,000-$50,000 in lost business.

Suddenly, the $3,000 to update your website doesn't seem so expensive.

What an Update Actually Involves

Updating a website doesn't necessarily mean starting from scratch (though sometimes that's the best option). Depending on your situation, it might mean:

Minor refresh: New design, updated content, mobile optimization. Your basic structure stays the same.

Major overhaul: New design, new structure, new platform. Basically a new website that might keep some of your existing content.

Full rebuild: Starting fresh when the old site is beyond saving.

A good web developer will be honest about what you actually need. Sometimes a refresh is fine. Sometimes it's better to start over than to try to fix something that's fundamentally broken.

How to Know for Sure

Still not sure if your website needs updating? Here's a simple test:

Look at your three main competitors' websites
Look at your own website
If a potential customer looked at all four, would yours make you look like the professional choice?

Be honest. If the answer is no, or even "maybe," you have your answer.

Moving Forward

If you're recognizing your website in this article, don't panic. You're not alone. I work with businesses all the time who've been putting off updating their site because they didn't know where to start or didn't want to spend the money.

But here's what I tell them: your website is an investment, not an expense. A modern, professional website that actually works brings you customers. It pays for itself.

And the longer you wait, the more customers you're losing to competitors whose websites make them look like the better choice.

You don't have to decide everything today. But if you're seeing these warning signs, at least have a conversation with someone who can give you honest feedback about what you need.

Your business deserves a website that works as hard as you do.

Not sure if your website needs an update? Let's take a look together. Call (743) 214-0315 for a free, no-pressure consultation.

Signs It's Time to Update Your Business Website