A website does not fail loudly. It quietly stops converting while everyone assumes it is fine. Here are the five checks we run before recommending a rebuild — and often, three of them are enough to know the answer.
1. Does it load in under three seconds on mobile data?
Test on a phone, on mobile data, away from your office WiFi. Most South African visitors arrive this way. Every additional second past three costs you a measurable share of visitors, and uncompressed images are almost always the culprit.
2. Can a stranger explain what you do in ten seconds?
Show your homepage to someone outside your industry for ten seconds, then take it away and ask what the business does. If they hesitate, your hero section is decorating rather than communicating.
3. Is there one obvious next step?
Count the calls to action above the fold. One is right. Three competing buttons means the visitor chooses none of them. The next step should be identical on every page and impossible to miss.
4. Is the content actually current?
Outdated team members, discontinued services, a copyright date two years old, a blog whose last post predates the pandemic — each is a small signal that the business may not be active. Together they are decisive.
5. Can you update it yourself?
If changing a phone number requires a developer, the site will drift out of date. That is a structural problem, not a content problem, and it is the single most common reason we see otherwise fine websites decay.
If you failed three or more of these, you do not need a redesign discussion — you need a rebuild plan. Start with speed and clarity; they deliver the fastest return.
The takeaway
