When you take on an existing site how much should keep all content / function?

Question

We have been battling a little with our own conscious and some client expectations on quote and then build of sites that have existed for 4-10 years already.

How much when you take on a project should you / must you keep all existing features and content?

So the job will mean you must rebuild on to a new technology platform as a new agency without the old code, the client has just asked for an "improved design" so they might want RWD or to meet new company direction.

It would be nice to re do site architecture and content , but you cant do that for every job. If the client for example wants all the features of a members area on a travel site or same marketing tools.

How do you guide customer and pick what can be changed, so that you dont have to give client a large bill for what is physically a lot of work to get to the point they are already before you add the design.

So guiding the customer to not expect all same so you can improve the structure but not kill all their marketing and sales tools.

Answer 1

Look for usage data. With an existing site there should hopefully be log files sitting around, or analytics set up. With those you should be able to put usage numbers next alongside whatever site audit you do. Hopefully in association with whatever conversion/action metrics the client cares about (remember - low volume access doesn't necessarily mean low impact on things the client cares about.)

With those in hand you should be able to have a conversation with the client about what bits of the current site are working for them - and which are not.