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reasons to consider redesigning your website
site performance
If your website is running slow, it means that is not well developed or perhaps the hosting service you are using is slow. In any case, you should start fixing things. In today’s age, users expect speedy responses and results. A slow responding website will most likely lose visitors and it will leave a negative impact on SEO too. Slow loading speed could be caused by a number of reasons: heavy unoptimized images, underpowered hosting and even an old, poorly performing theme. Aim for a loading time under 5 seconds.
No matter how interactive your website is, if it is not fully loaded in a few seconds, it will not do well. The bounce rate will increase massively and that is not good.
responsive design
The number of people using mobiles to browse the Internet has skyrocketed. We’re spending two hours online on our smartphones every day; twice as long as laptops and PCs. And this trend is going to continue in the future which makes it necessary to have a mobile platform. Your website is responsive if it is able to accommodate all users, no matter which platform they are visiting your website on. The responsive web design adapts to the medium with which it is being accessed allowing a website to flex to the size of the screen it’s being viewed on.
Google is now telling searchers whether your website is mobile friendly or not with their new mobile friendly test. This will inevitably affect your credibility, click-through rate, lead generation and sales. If you haven’t updated your website in a while the chances are that you may be driving mobile users and potential customers away.
user navigation
Your website is often the first thing that people see in regards to your business – so you want to be sure that you’re giving people a good overall experience. It’s all in the details – and those details really matter a lot when you add them all together.
- A good, easy to follow layout
- Solid navigation and page structure
- Information presented in a way that is easy to read
- Great images and media
- Consistent brand messaging
A user should be able to find the information they are searching for within three clicks. Navigation could mean the difference between someone staying on your site and having a look around or leaving straight away to visit a competitor’s site.
fresh content
Having news on your site that was last updated a year ago, or an outdated copyright date does not give users the greatest first impression of your company. A user may then think the rest of the information on your site is old and irrelevant to them as well. When redesigning your site, think about having it built with a content management system (CMS) which is a tool that can allow you to edit content and images on your site without a strong knowledge of HTML or other programming languages.
embarrassed to give out your website address ...
... because you are afraid of what your prospects might think of it? It may be time to consider a website redesign. Many business owners know that they need a redesign and they are planning to get around to it, they just haven’t yet. A bad website can hurt your business far more than not having one at all, because of the perception it gives of your company.
search results
You also need to know that search engines love good, updated content. Every time you make an update to your site, Google and other search engines crawl and index your pages, thus your site ranking gets recalculated. Search engine optimization (SEO) is always changing because the major players, like Google, are constantly updating their algorithms. What worked even a couple years ago won’t necessarily work today. If you haven’t looked at the SEO on your site for quite some time, it may actually be hurting you rather than helping you. Pair that with a charming, good looking website, and you’re guaranteed more attention.
Do you have a blog? You should, as it’s a powerful marketing tool to drive more traffic and users your way, through keywords (assuming that you invest time into a proper keyword strategy), internal links and backlinks.
social integration
Social media is an important tool for content marketing. Are you on social media? If not, you need to think about incorporating your accounts into your site. This allows you to reach a wider audience. Recent studies show that 78% of businesses get over 25% new clients on social media. Moreover, social shares can increase up to 700% for sites with social sharing buttons. As a result, you have more brand recognition.
if your website is missing social buttons, be sure to add them
If you don’t share your social channels on your main marketing channel - your website - how can visitors find you in the social sphere? Often, people are too lazy or fickle to start looking for themselves. Social media is an excellent tool for developing customer relations and promoting your brand.
brand appeal
To be taken seriously and to be considered a professional, credible business, it’s extremely important for your website to portray a strong brand image that represents your company accurately and captures the essence of your brand. A stronger brand image has the ability to take small businesses and entrepreneurs and make them stand out among their larger competitors, leveling the playing field.
This means your slogans, tag lines, value proposition, mission statement – even things that might seem superficial like your logo, fonts, and colors. It all needs to reflect your brand and your business. Sometimes brand messaging changes – and that’s okay. But if your website still reflects your old messaging or no messaging whatsoever, it might be a good idea to have a look at that through a website redesign.
call to action
Never leave your site visitors wondering what they should do next. If it’s not subtle and intuitive, they’ll leave and never return. And that’s sadly a lost prospect. Many dated websites lack effective calls to actions that convert users to customers. What if your potential audience wants to get in touch with you instantly? Are you available to help them or solve their queries?
do I need CTAs?
Of course you do. And it’s not just a button or link added here and there. It has to be placed strategically, to keep your user’s interest and offer them to see more content on your site. The idea is to guide your site visitors through your content, then to your contact form. Does your website have instant contact button?
analytics
When’s the last time you took a look at your website’s analytics performance? Your analytics can tell you a lot about how your website is performing (or underperforming). Websites that have low conversion rates will benefit from an analytic audit. Audit a user’s movement; ask yourself, where are typical users navigating to? The most common reason for high bounce or exit rates is related to users not finding what they’re looking for fast enough. The general rule of thumb is to have the user find the content they want within 2 – 3 clicks (pages).
Enhance your website with conversion tracking and analytic goals, then use these metrics to improve menu navigation and content.
outdated design
Approximately 75% of people will judge the credibility of your business based solely on the design of your website. This affects your visitors’ experience on your website. “Old school is cool” does not apply when it comes to design and functionality. The digital world is constantly changing and evolving. Web standards shift each year, dictating new tools and technologies for building a good website. Your potential clients’ preferences and tastes shift even faster. What was trendy yesterday, may not be next week. If you want your business to succeed, you need to be agile with your visual presentation and website design.
If you’ve built your website over 2 years ago, most likely it’s far behind in terms of looks and functionality. It probably has outdated code that can slow down its loading speed or the way it responds on different devices (if it’s mobile friendly at all). It might also not be compatible with some of the latest popular browsers.
old technology
Perhaps your website is still built in flash which is difficult for search engines to read and difficult to access on mobile devices, or maybe your website is running on plugins that have not been updated in years. Updating your website with the latest technology and plugins will help your website to perform better and be more efficient, providing a better user experience for your visitors. In order to rank in the search engines, the content on your site needs to be readable.
does your site use flash --
It used to be very popular within many web design circles but alas, it’s now considered to be highly outdated (and has been for a number of years). Not only is Flash not supported on devices such as iPads and iPhones, but it’s also rendered unreadable by the big search engines such as Google, Yahoo, and Bing. All of those potential readers and customers are going to click away from your site and eventually land on the better-designed site of one of your competitors.
bounce rate
One of the few site performance indicators that you want to keep low, rather than high is your Bounce Rate. Your bounce rate is a good touchstone to measure the quality of your website traffic, since it shows how many of your site visitors leave right away, without exploring your pages and engaging with your content (they “bounce” away).
If you’ve been pouring your heart and time into blogging, SEO and marketing, bringing a lot of traffic to your website – yet the second they access your homepage (or any other page), they bounce right off of it – you have a problem. You’re losing leads and potential clients.
A high bounce rate indicates that you’re doing something wrong, either with content, with the navigation or overall look and feel on your website. On average, a bounce rate between 40-60% is considered to be OK (this varies depending on your industry). You can check your bounce rate via the use of analytics.
security
DIY: you want control to update your website
you lost your designer
Perhaps one of the greatest concerns of our time is cyber security, and small businesses and entrepreneurs are just as susceptible to website hacking and viruses as larger businesses. If your website was built years ago and hasn’t been updated since, you are at greater risk for malware and hacking. Lastly, Google has made a hard push for all websites to have an SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) Certificate installed. Google even went as far to say that websites without an SSL Certificate will be ranked lower in search results than sites with an SSL Certificate installed.
To be honest, new or old, any website can be hacked. The experience is stressful and painful, especially when you lose information, or/and have to build everything from scratch. However, older websites rely on older technology, therefore chances of security breach are higher.
you lost your designer
DIY: you want control to update your website
you lost your designer
Did you hire a web developer, designer, and/or host to create and maintain a website, but now that designer ignores your request for the site to be updated? When you've asked this resource to turnover the website, have your requests gone unanswered?
At this point it is very likely that you are so frustrated that you have stopped making efforts to keep your website updated. This can be a frustrating challenge, but it is not an insurmountable issue.
Get an advisor to help you to assess whether you need a new developer to take over your existing site. Becoming a web designer may not be your passion and you just need a new relationship. However this may present a prime opportunity to redesign your site AND gain control to update your website yourself. Take a moment to learn more.
DIY: you want control to update your website
DIY: you want control to update your website
DIY: you want control to update your website
Having greater control over managing and updating your website means that you can deploy marketing campaigns at a faster rate because you don’t have to wait on someone to make the changes for you. Having this capability allows you to test more landing pages and ascertain what is and isn’t working for you at a faster pace, helping you to see results faster.
When redesigning your site, think about having it built with a content management system (CMS) which is a tool that can allow you to edit content and images on your site without a strong knowledge of HTML or other programming languages. Choose a CMS that makes it easy to update information and add new pages. This helps to avoid outdated content. There are many templated solutions which can solve a lot of website woes -- yet put management of your site well within your reach.