What do you think is the best way to explain to a potential client that their site is outdated?

Question

Electronic commerce

Some potential clients ask for advice on how to improve their site, and some of these sites are outdated.
What I mean by obsolete:
- The design was made in the early 2000s
- The structure of the site, the location of the content (a lot of empty space on the page) was not thought out - It was
made by a student for "three kopecks"
Purpose: to sell the development of a modern site.

Answer 1

Well, clients do not come to order a site or some work (such as design) separately. They need to solve their problems (most often - to sell goods, attract customers, only their own, etc.).
Most of the artistic taste is such that when showing examples of the most modern and progressive design, be prepared to observe a slight misunderstanding. And to the question “What do you like”, get ready to see such samples of shit design that it takes your breath away in the bad sense of the word :). Discussing the structure is generally, in my opinion, a waste of time.
So all you have to do is answer the most important question - how will the site change affect the client's sales?

Answer 2

Compare his site with a competitor and show that the competitor has more profit, etc.
This immediately motivates the customer to change the design :) And to say that changing the design is "better, more convenient" will not help, it has been proven by work experience.

Answer 3

Purpose: to sell the development of a modern site.

Who needs a modern website?
The site must perform its functions (each one is different).
For example, I doubt that you will develop a modern site for IE6. Or for WAP internet. And this is just one of the requirements.

Answer 4

As a rule, a website is a building block in a business model.
So this brick should perfectly fulfill its functions.
The first question that should arise from the manager of your company is: "What tasks should the client's site solve?"
And if you don't understand business, you won't understand it.
So your actions are always about the same:

1. Understand the client's business
   
2. Understand why he needs a particular web resource
   
3. Conduct a business compliance audit of the current site
   
4. And only then to offer their innovative ideas on structure and design
   

Answer 5

Most likely, you are describing a dead site that is not needed by the client or does not perform its functions.

Answer 6

run in IE)

Answer 7

- The design was made in the early 2000s
- The structure of the site, the location of the content (a lot of empty space on the page) was not thought out - It was
made by a student for "three kopecks"

For business, profit is important, your points are Wishlist.
If you can prove that by making the site "according to you" the profit will increase - this will be the answer to your question.
There is another option: if the site has real security holes, this can also be your trump card. From the client's point of view, this means "loss of profit".
Is this site outdated?)) : https://cmd.fm/79731999

Answer 8

Prove in numbers that the new site will increase the client's income by N percent. If you are so cool that you can guarantee it, the client will already start counting bills.

Answer 9

The bottom line is relatively simple: you must prove to the customer that the new design will increase conversion by 1000% (the numbers are exaggerated, of course), and that the costs of creating a new site are more than offset by a powerful return. If you cannot prove this, then the rest of the arguments are meaningless, so first, see for yourself whether this will increase conversion and revenue.

Answer 10

As already mentioned above, you need to dance from business.
I will just throw one more trump card - an adaptive or mobile site. Now the share of mobile traffic in some niches is rapidly approaching the desktop one.
Why do you need a mobile site?

• Conversion boost
  
• SEO optimization on mobile search, Google will soon begin to rank sites with mobile adaptation higher
  

Answer 11

Why should he explain this if he has other goals?
Maybe he is developing an off-line business and he needs a website just for show.
If there is an interest of the client - then on examples. For example, what is a special design for a smartphone.