If you have a website that was built a few years ago, you might be thinking about updating or replacing it. Browsers have changed, with the introduction of new options like Google Chrome – and the coding standards are slowly shifting towards the use of HTML 5 and CSS 3. These things can affect how an older website is shown to your users, and as markets change, it makes sense to review your site and see if it’s time to replace it. But why is it so difficult for site owners to justify rebuilding a website from the ground up?
The real reason it can be difficult to stomach replacing an existing site is psychological – people are hard-wired to do one thing that will cost them money instead of making it for them, even when it comes to websites.
The Sunk Cost Fallacy
Websites can be expensive, especially when you consider all of the modern bells and whistles that can be added – ecommerce, social media marketing widgets, video and so on. A fully featured website is a significant investment for any business. The key to this investment, however, is the return on investment that your website can provide. It’s there to bring you customers and attract them back for return business.
But when the investment on that website has been made, it is very difficult to take a step back a few years on and say “This was working for us in the beginning, but business coming from the website has steadily tapered off. This site just isn’t getting the job done any more – it’s time to replace it.” As people, we are very reluctant to replace something we’ve invested a great deal of time, money and effort into – even if keeping it or adding to it is going to cost us even more.
This is what’s known as the “sunk cost fallacy” – the idea that somehow plugging more money into something that isn’t doing the job and isn’t what you want is better than accepting that the original investment’s useful life has ended and starting with something new.
My Toaster’s Broken….
Of course, this idea isn’t doing you any favours – if your toaster was no longer working, and it would cost £20 to fix it or £15 to buy a new one with the same features … surely you’d buy the new toaster, right?
What if you had a broken toaster, and it would cost £20 to fix it, or £30 to buy a new one – it’s more expensive, but it has features you’d like to have and it comes with a one-year manufacturer’s warranty? Would you have your older toaster repaired then, or would you get the one that does what you really want?
If you’d spend less money but get significantly less for it, you’re falling prey to the sunk cost fallacy… and people do the same thing with websites. Older site architecture can be more difficult to bolt new features onto, and a fix that sounds cheaper on the surface than replacing the site as a whole can become a much more expensive exercise when adding new features causes problems with older ones.
Your Aging Website
Take a step back if you have an older website – is it still doing the job you need it to do?
If it doesn’t … does it make more economic sense to update it – or replace it?
