Often we work with clients who wish to breathe new life into an existing website. They can do this by adding new content, new features, or by using search engine optimization (SEO) to optimize their current content.
When we evaluate an existing website, we try to consider and balance many aspects including usability, scalability, modern development standards, design, seo requirements, and cost.? Unfortunately, we often 
find that existing sites are not designed with scalability in mind, and are built and maintained with outmoded development practices, and more often than not with no consideration for SEO.
In a lot of cases, we conclude that the best and most sustainable route for these websites is to initially re-code them (and sometimes update the design). ?There are always minor improvements and enhancements that can be made without a re-code, but it is often like using a bandaid to mask a problem where surgery is required. ?Also, it often seems irresponsible to make changes and improvements to a website if there are underlying problems that haven’t and won’t be addressed without a rebuild.
Without a sufficiently sized, well engineered, and stable foundation, it will often be more time consuming and costlier (in the long run) for our client to continue to add to an existing website. ?Naturally, it seems counterintuitive to some people to take their functioning website and recreate it, especially given the increased initial cost, but it is often the only reasonable route. ?It saves money and frustration down the road, lays the proper foundation for SEO basics, and ensures that their website maintains it’s usability and functionality with growth.
