SiteFixList · 2026-11-13
Does an old copyright year make your website look abandoned? We checked 734 homepages
In November 2026 we loaded the homepages of 734 small service and tour businesses in the US and UK. At least 56 of them, about 8%, still showed a copyright year from 2023 or earlier. The year does not change your legal protection, but an out-of-date footer can make a visitor wonder whether the business is still active.
What we checked
We fetched each homepage once and looked for the first copyright notice in the page text, such as "© 2021" or "Copyright 2019". For a range such as "2015–2021" we used the last year. We counted a homepage when that year was 2023 or earlier, three or more years before the check.
The real number may be higher. Our check misses years added by a script after the page loads, years shown only inside an image, and notices that appear only on other pages.
What the year in a copyright notice means
In the US and the UK, copyright protection does not depend on showing a notice. The year in a notice usually refers to when the work was first published, so an older year is not a legal mistake.
The concern is how it looks. Some visitors may read an old year as a sign that nobody is looking after the website or the business. We have not measured how often that happens; it is one small signal among many.
How to fix it in five minutes
Most website builders let you edit the footer text directly. If a developer looks after your site, ask them to show the year automatically so it does not go out of date again.
- Open your homepage on your phone, scroll to the bottom and note the year.
- In your website builder, find the footer or site-wide settings and edit the copyright text.
- Show the current year, or a range from the year you started to the current year.
- While you are there, check that your phone number, address and opening hours are still correct.
- Reload the homepage and check the footer on your other pages too.
Check the rest of your homepage
The SiteFixList free check looks at your homepage and shows up to three problems in plain language in about a minute, with no sign-up. The paid report (USD 19, one-time) covers more pages and is optional.
Sources and further reading
Related guide
PageSpeed Insights vs SiteFixList: when is a paid website report useful?
A website audit checklist for client handover
How slow are small business websites on a phone? We timed 596 homepages