Is your website outdated? Ten tests you can do yourself

Your website is outdated if it loads slowly on a phone, has no https, runs on software without security updates, is hard to read on a small screen, or if you can't change anything on it yourself. Those are five of the ten tests below. Each one takes a few minutes and costs nothing. For every test, you'll find what it costs to do nothing, and who fixes it: you or your web designer.

1. Is your site slow on a phone?

How to test it. Enter your site's web address (e.g. www.yourbusiness.be) in PageSpeed Insights and choose Mobile. If your site has few visitors, you only get a score out of 100, calculated by a test rather than from real visitors: 90 or more is good, under 50 is poor. With enough visitors, you'll also see whether it passes the Core Web Vitals, three measurements from real visitors (LCP up to 2.5 seconds, INP up to 200 milliseconds, CLS up to 0.1).

What it costs. Google takes Core Web Vitals into account, although good content weighs more. And slowness costs customers: across 37 large brands (Deloitte for Google, 2019), 21.6% more visitors reached the enquiry form when the mobile site loaded 0.1 seconds faster.

Who fixes it? Your web designer. Ask what makes your site slow, and what it costs to fix.

2. Does the browser warn that your site is not secure?

How to test it. Open your site and look at the web address: does it start with https://, without a warning?

What it costs. Since version 154, released in autumn 2026, Chrome first asks visitors whether they really want to open a site without https. So your visitor sees a warning before they see your business.

Who fixes it? Your web designer or the company that runs your site (your host). Also ask whether old links with http:// redirect to https:// automatically.

3. Does your site's software still get updates?

How to test it. Ask your web designer: "What system does my site run on, and do the system, the plugins and the PHP version still get security updates?" PHP is the programming language that WordPress, among others, runs on. Version 8.2 gets no security updates after 31 December 2026; 8.1 and older already get none.

What it costs. Without updates, known security holes stay open: an easy target for hackers. For a ten-year-old WordPress site, this is often the most important sign.

Who fixes it? Your web designer or your host.

4. Do you have to zoom in to read on your phone?

How to test it. On your phone, read a page without zooming, tap your phone number and fill in the form. Then look at three competitors' sites: your customers compare too.

What it costs. In October 2026, almost half (49%) of all web pages viewed in Belgium were viewed on a phone (Statcounter). And Google looks at the mobile version of your site to decide where you appear in search results.

Who fixes it? Your web designer. A site that doesn't adapt to the screen often needs a new design.

5. Is the information on your site still correct?

How to test it. Scroll all the way down: does it still say © 2019? Then read your site as a new customer would: opening hours, your business address, phone number, services, prices. Check the details the law requires too. In Belgium, that's your business name, address, an email address, your enterprise number and, if you're registered for VAT, your VAT number (usually your enterprise number with BE in front).

What it costs. An old year doesn't bother Google, but it bothers your customers. And Belgium's Economic Inspectorate checks: in 2024, 47.7% of 2,158 websites and pages it examined lacked the required details. Businesses in breach usually get a warning first; serious breaches or an ignored warning lead to an official report.

Who fixes it? You, in ten minutes, if you can edit your site yourself (see test 9).

6. Does your site speak your customers' language?

How to test it. Look at which language your customers speak. If you work in Brussels, along the language border or across Belgium, some will prefer to read Dutch, French or English. If all your customers speak the language of your site, this test isn't for you.

What it costs. In a CSA Research survey of 8,709 consumers in 29 countries (2020), 76% preferred to buy when the information is in their own language, and 40% said they never buy from websites in other languages.

Who fixes it? Your web designer sets up the second language; you have the texts translated and checked. More in setting up a bilingual website.

7. Does a visitor know right away what to do?

How to test it. Show your home page for five seconds to someone who doesn't know your business. Then ask: what does this business do, for whom, and how do you get in touch? On your phone, do you see a button or phone number at the top?

What it costs. A visitor who doesn't see what to do won't call. If you pay for ads, every click is money lost.

Who fixes it? You write the sentence and choose the button; your web designer puts them in the right place.

8. Does your contact form actually arrive?

How to test it. Fill in your own form, on your phone, with a Gmail address. Does the message arrive, and not in spam? Does the visitor get a confirmation?

What it costs. A form that quietly stops working can be the most expensive sign of the ten: you lose enquiries without noticing. One possible cause: your site sends email without SPF or DKIM, two settings that prove a message really comes from your domain. Since 1 February 2024, Gmail requires one of them.

Who fixes it? You test, your web designer repairs. Ask: "Does my form send its email with SPF or DKIM?"

9. Can you change a text or photo yourself?

How to test it. Change your opening hours or replace a photo today. Do you remember how to log in? Can you do it in ten minutes, without calling your web designer?

What it costs. Every change becomes an email, a wait and often an invoice. So you put it off, and the site ages faster.

Who fixes it? Your web designer can show you how. If your system doesn't allow it, you need a different system.

10. Do you know who owns your domain name?

How to test it. For a .be address, enter your domain at dnsbelgium.be, choose Verify details and click Show details. The second box shows the holder. If it's your web designer or a former employee, the domain isn't yours. For .com, .eu or other endings, ask the company you pay for your domain name (your registrar).

What it costs. The holder is the owner of your domain. If someone else is the holder, you need that person to move or sell your domain: for a .be domain, DNS Belgium sends the code you need (the transfer code) to their email address. And your email depends on your domain too.

Who fixes it? You, with the cooperation of the current holder.

Checklist: tick what's in order

Every item you can't tick is a sign.

• On a phone, a score of at least 90, or passing the Core Web Vitals.

• A web address with https://, without a warning.

• Software that still gets security updates.

• Readable on a phone without zooming.

• Correct details and your enterprise number on your site.

• Your customers' languages.

• In five seconds, clear what you do and how to reach you.

• A form that arrives, including at Gmail.

• Changing a text yourself in ten minutes.

• The domain in your name or your business's name.

Our rule of thumb: with three or more items unticked, a redesign is usually simpler than fixing everything separately. But a form that doesn't arrive or a domain in someone else's name is best fixed right away. If you go for a redesign, first read how to stay visible on Google during a redesign.

Kintsu starts from your current site, with your texts, images and web addresses, and gives you a new one you maintain yourself: see how a website redesign works.

Sources

All sources accessed on 4 November 2026.

• Google, About PageSpeed Insights (scores of 90 and 50, real-user data)

• Google Search Central, Core Web Vitals (LCP, INP and CLS thresholds)

• Google Search Central, Page experience (Core Web Vitals count; the most relevant content comes first)

• web.dev, Milliseconds make millions (Deloitte study across 37 brands, 2019)

• Chrome, Chrome 154 release notes (asks before opening a site without https by default)

• PHP, Supported versions and Unsupported branches (PHP 8.2 until 31 December 2026, PHP 8.1 until 31 December 2025)

• Google Search Central, Mobile-first indexing

• Statcounter, Desktop vs Mobile vs Tablet Market Share in Belgium (October 2026)

• FPS Economy, Informations obligatoires sur le site web de votre entreprise (in French)

• FPS Economy, 7 établissements contrôlés sur 10 en infraction avec la législation économique (August 2025, in French)

• CSA Research, Consumers Prefer their Own Language (7 July 2020)

• Google, Email sender guidelines (SPF or DKIM since 1 February 2024)

• DNS Belgium, Who holds the key to your online business? (18 February 2026)

• DNS Belgium, Transfer your domain name to another holder (the transfer code goes to the holder's email address)