Without regular security updates, your website may be vulnerable to security risks and bugs that could be time consuming to fix. Additionally, there will be fewer companies offering technical support for Drupal 6 as more sites are built on Drupal 7 and 8.

Most websites have an average lifespan of 3-6 years before they need to be redesigned. So, if your website is built on Drupal 6, you’re very likely in need of a redesign anyway. When you add in the potential risk of leaving your Drupal 6 site vulnerable to security risks, the case to upgrade and redesign your site gets even greater.

The good news is that moving from Drupal 6 to Drupal 7, Drupal 8 or even WordPress will automatically provide you with some pretty cool functionality. Here are some improvements that you can expect to have built into your new site:

1. Mobile friendly. Your new website will automatically resize based on the size of the device it’s viewed from — making it easier for your users to navigate and engage with your content on a desktop, tablet or mobile phone.
2. Web browser compatibility. You may have noticed that your website doesn’t look or behave right on some browsers. Your new site will look and behave the way you expect it to on all browsers.
3. Improved content management and editing. Drupal 7, Drupal 8 and WordPress all offer improved editing functionality and ease of use.

This is also the right time to revisit your organizational goals, digital strategy and to review how your users have engaged with your site. What’s working well? What isn’t working? Are there assumptions that were made at the build of the site that need to be reviewed and validated/invalidated? Have your organizational goals changed? All of these questions will provide answers that will help guide and direct the redesign of your new site.

Redesigning your website is a large project that provides an exciting opportunity to take advantage of the new functionality in the latest open source platforms and to make improvements in your digital presence that reflect your current organizational goals.

For more information about how to choose the right platform, check out some of our prior blog posts:

• What’s Your Drupal Upgrade Path?
• Is Drupal 8 Right for Your Next Web Project?
• Upgrading to Drupal 8: A Planning Guide