Start New or Rebuild?

We are frequently contacted to offer services in finishing a website that is at some stage of completion.  A common misconception is that if half of a website is done it should be less expensive to finish out. The truth is that it is extremelty difficult to follow behind another developer to try to pick up where they left off and piece together the puzzle to finish the site in an efficient manner. There are also some other factors to consider.

• Is the site buile with a content management system (CMS) or is it a static site (HTML)?
• If it is a CMS then what kind?
• Did the other developer take the time to document the architecture of the site and would that developer be willing to turn the work over to us?

If a lot of money was spent designing the site and some specific peices were written that could not be duplicated then trying to finish it out may be the best option. However, it probably won't be the least expensive. Because we have been able to streamline the process of architecting, designing, and laying out our sites, many times just getting a chance to look over the old site is enough for us to begin the site over from the beginning and have it finished in a timely manner (which will save you money).

We can take an existing static HTML website and build it into a CMS by saving the HTML pages and building a new template that matches your existing site.