A website can disappear for dozens of reasons. A hosting account is closed, a domain expires, a migration goes wrong, a database becomes corrupted or the only developer with access is no longer available. Sometimes the code is still there but the site will not run. Sometimes an old business website exists only in archived snapshots and a handful of cached documents.
TwoSquares helps businesses and organisations investigate, reconstruct and relaunch lost or damaged websites. We begin by establishing what evidence survives, what the client owns and what a successful recovery must deliver. The answer may be a technical repair, a rebuild from backups, a carefully reconstructed website or a documented archive. We do not promise to recover data that no longer exists.
What we can help restore
Expired or abandoned business websites. Recover the website's identity and useful content from available backups, archives, files and publicly accessible historical records. If domain ownership has been lost, recovery of the domain is a separate issue. See our expired domain recovery service.
Broken WordPress and content management systems. Investigate failed updates, missing plugins, broken templates, inaccessible media, database problems and migration failures. Where repair would leave an unsafe or unsupported system, plan a modern rebuild instead.
Historical project and research websites. Recover the structure of conference sites, documentation portals and project libraries where the value lies in old papers, announcements, source files and the links other organisations have used for years.
Obsolete or unsupported websites. Move away from outdated frameworks and unsupported code while keeping essential content, navigation and source references as intact as possible.
Websites affected by a redesign or rebrand. Reintroduce missing content and properly map old addresses when a redesign removed pages or changed a site's URL structure without accounting for existing visitors and search references.
How our website restoration process works
Step 1: Establish the original website and ownership
We begin with the domain, historical URLs, hosting information, known CMS, available credentials and the dates when the site was last working. We ask what the organisation is authorised to recover and republish. A purchased domain does not automatically transfer the original website's copyright or customer data.
Step 2: Audit everything that survives
Sources may include hosting backups, exported databases, original design assets, Git repositories, email attachments, file storage, archived web pages and search-indexed references. We classify material as recovered original, verified copy, partial reconstruction or missing. This prevents assumptions from becoming published “facts”.
Step 3: Decide whether to repair or rebuild
A recoverable application may justify a controlled restore. A site built around insecure or unavailable dependencies may be safer to reconstruct using a current framework or CMS. The decision depends on functional requirements, cost, security, content completeness and ongoing maintenance.
Step 4: Recover content and reconstruct navigation
We rebuild page hierarchy, assets and essential functionality where technically possible. Old PDFs, product records, articles and other historically important material are dealt with individually. If a referenced document cannot be recovered, a clear source record or missing-resource response is preferable to publishing invented text.
Step 5: Protect meaningful URLs and search access
Our website migration and SEO recovery service covers inventorying old URLs, mapping genuinely equivalent replacement pages, configuring redirects, checking canonical tags, updating internal links and testing crawl behaviour. No agency can guarantee that an old site's rankings or backlinks will transfer to a new version.
Step 6: Test, document and hand over
Before launch, we check key page types, downloads, forms, security configuration, mobile behaviour, important redirects and essential analytics. We document what was restored, what was recreated and what remains unavailable, and recommend a website archiving and backup plan to reduce future risk.
Restoration, rebuilding and archiving are not interchangeable
If the aim is to restore a functioning booking site, historical snapshots alone are unlikely to recreate an intact booking database. If the priority is public access to a research programme's papers, an accurate static site with source records may be more appropriate than reproducing its old CMS. And when an organisation simply needs evidence of its past website, a preserved capture and documented URL inventory may be sufficient.
We explain those differences before treating a project as a standard web design job.
What we need to assess your website
Send the domain name, approximately when it stopped working and any available backups or login access. A short description of what matters most also helps: old articles, documents, transactions, search rankings, design, databases or historical credibility. We can outline the likely recovery route after examining the evidence.
Frequently asked questions
Can you restore a website from the Wayback Machine?
Archived snapshots can help reconstruct public pages and assets, but they are often incomplete. Private data, payment integrations, logins and server-side functionality are usually not available from a public web archive. Rights to reproduce content must also be considered.
What if the domain has already been purchased by someone else?
We can help assess the available ownership and acquisition options, but we cannot guarantee a third party will sell or transfer a domain. Learn about expired domain recovery.
Can you recover the old website's SEO rankings?
There is no automatic or guaranteed recovery. We can investigate lost URLs, crawl errors, relevant redirects, content continuity and technical barriers, then measure outcomes after launch. See SEO migration and recovery.
Can you restore a project website with no commercial purpose?
Yes, the process can be adapted for informational, research and open-source projects, subject to access, rights and scope. Read our GNU Telephony documentation preservation record for the reasoning behind this kind of work.
Get a website recovery assessment
If your website is broken, unavailable or partly lost, contact TwoSquares and include the domain and what you still have. We are based in Edinburgh and work with organisations across the UK.
Related services: Expired domain recovery | Website archiving | SEO migration and recovery | Web design and development