9 Signs Your Website Was Built in 2009 (and Nobody Told You)

Your website might be older than you think. Here are nine warning signs — laugh, then check your own site. No judgment. Okay, a little judgment.

The checklist

• 1. It has a visitor counter. Bonus points if it is a flaming GIF.
• 2. On your phone, you have to pinch-zoom to read anything.
• 3. There is a “Best viewed in Internet Explorer” note. Internet Explorer is gone. The note remains.
• 4. The copyright in the footer says 2014. Or worse.
• 5. Music autoplays. Smooth jazz. Nobody asked.
• 6. The “Contact” page is a single email address as an image so bots cannot read it (neither can customers).
• 7. It takes nine seconds to load. You have counted. Many times.
• 8. The photos are stretched. Everyone looks slightly wide.
• 9. You are afraid to touch it because the person who built it vanished in 2011.

Why it actually matters

Funny aside, an outdated site does real damage. 70% of web traffic is mobile, and visitors decide whether to trust you in about 50 milliseconds. A dated site says “out of business” even when you are thriving.

How many did your site score? Drop your number in the comments — be honest. And if you counted more than three, it might be time for a redesign. HaglerDesigns rescues stuck-in-the-past websites for Longview and East Texas businesses.