Generally speaking, yes, I can update your old site, but I have one stipulation: that it's a good, solidly built site to begin with. If it's seriously out of date or built on shaky ground, I'll suggest that we redesign it from scratch. 

Sometimes people come to me with a site that's the online equivalent of a rusty old automobile and want me to fix it. It has overly complex, outdated html code (possibly created with some type of do-it-yourself site builder like Microsoft FrontPage – yuck) and they want me to clean up the mess. In those cases, I'll say  "Take that thing to the junkyard. Step into my showroom and go for a ride in a shiny new website!"

This is not a ploy on my part to get more business. It's just my way of saving myself time, and therefore saving you money. When I start working on old junkers, it always ends up taking more time than I envisioned. If you're going to pay me for 10-20 hours of work, wouldn't you rather have a nice new site to show for it, not just an updated version of your old site?

I apologize if you think I'm calling your beloved old, self-created site an "old junker." Let's just say it could use a facelift. A fresh new look will make people want to revisit your site, so it's a worthwhile investment.