To fix or build from scratch: what to do when a website does not work?
From time to time, each web resource faces common website problems. Some factors, for instance custom code quality, that can result site collapse are obvious, while some of them are hard to find. Regardless of the cause, when a website does not work properly, it causes some inconveniences.
After performing a site audit you’ve found out that your web-project has problem, like security issues or it doesn’t load — but now you have no idea what to do. Are you wondering whether it is possible to fix it? Or does it mean that you need to start a new one from scratch? Let’s explore this issue together.
Reasons to fix a website
- Poor code. The main fixable reason why your site doesn’t work. Complicated code is hard to read, and it is difficult to change. This means that one change may have consequences for other changes in dependent components or cause breaks and bugs in other parts of code. If you want to alter it, you should do it carefully. It is a challenge to modify or extend website’s functionality as a code needs to rewritten. What to do? Apply a code review to find bugs and fix them.
- Lack of updates. Maybe the reason for your site crash are old version of the CMS. Sometimes all you need is to upgrade the CMS to the latest version. Constant upgrading of your site and its CMS is useful for security and SEO, improves site loading speed, let your site keep up with latest technological trends and many more advantages.
- Hosting issues. Probably the host provider has some troubles with the server. Due to it, your site is inaccessible. That is why choosing the right web hosting support is important.
- Modules (plugins) updates. Used to extend your site performance, sometimes plugins or modules are not stable or need a fresh update.
- Too many modules and plugins. One more mistake is to overload your site with plugins and modules that drain its resources. For example, after uninstalling unnecessary Drupal modules, you may speed your site up.
- CMS concerns. Incompatible plugin installation or database error are among the internal CMS conflicts that may influence your site work. This may cause incorrect page loading, for example.
Reasons to start a website from scratch
- Cost-effectiveness. Sometimes it is much cheaper to begin the development of a totally new website rather than repairing an old one.
- Code just CANNOT be fixed. Probably because it was changed by many people. Perhaps it was done by careless developer. Maybe, while you’re fixing your site, new errors appear. Or you just can’t find a bug. In this case, starting from scratch is the right decision.
- Search engine filters. Your site may be blocked by search engine filters due to many reasons: plagiarism, poor UX and SEO, spam and so on. Once your site is caught by search engine algorithm, you may get a penalty or have your site blocked. As sometimes it is impossible to get rid of imposed filters, the only way to get back your search results list is to build a new website.
There is no formula of success. Each case needs an individual approach. Fix your website or start from scratch — it’s up to you. But you can contact us for evaluation of your current state and our team of professional web developers will give you advice and perform all the necessary actions for you!