{"id":1963,"slug":"orbit-media-2-7-year-lifespan-caveat-population","title":"Orbit Media \"average website lifespan = 2y 6mo 27d\" (2.66 years) — Wayback review of top-200 marketing sites, NOT DIY-SMB","kind":"reference","scope":"business","status":"current","audiences":["kevin","candid-team"],"topics":["page-builders","longevity-architecture","editorial-discipline"],"reference_body":"**Claim:** Orbit Media's Wayback Machine review of the **top 200 marketing sites (Alexa list)** states verbatim: *\"The average website lifespan is 2 years 7 months. Actually, it was 2.66 years which is 2 years, 6 months, and 27 days.\"* Orbit's own 78-client average is **6 years 4 months**.\n\n**Source:** Orbit Media.\n\n**Confidence:** Single-source / Directional.\n\n**Caveat — population mismatch:** This measures **redesign cadence of top marketing sites**, NOT DIY-SMB survival. Top marketing sites have budget and reason to redesign frequently; SMB DIY sites do not. The number is widely-cited as if it were a longevity-of-SMB-sites figure — it is not.\n\n**Why this matters for Candid:** When a vendor or agency cites \"websites only last 2-3 years,\" this is usually the source — and it is being repurposed from a different population. Cross-link [[research-brief-built-to-last]] for the broader rebuild-cycle context.","rationale_body":null,"metadata":null,"links":{"outgoing":[{"slug":"research-brief-built-to-last","title":"Research brief: Built to Last — why most SMB sites rebuild every 3-4 years (piece 5 of 15)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"}],"incoming":[{"slug":"research-brief-diy-page-builder-effectiveness-longevity-june-2026","title":"Research brief: effectiveness and longevity of DIY / page-builder websites for SMBs (June 2026)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"}]},"created_at":"2026-06-23T12:08:39.322Z","updated_at":"2026-06-23T12:08:39.322Z"}