Times change. Technology advances. Fashion trends come and go and (despite our best judgements) sometimes come again. The world, and everything in it, is constantly moving forward. Except for your website. If your website’s been stuck at a standstill for even just a few years, chances are it’s lagging behind in more ways than one and it’s probably time for an overhaul.
How Do You Know It’s Time for a New Website?
It can be hard to admit that your website is outdated. We truly understand the amount of time and money that went into it. How you labored over colors and photos. How you carefully chose fonts and icons. How you painstakingly picked apart every word. But if your website isn’t showing year-over-year growth, if it’s no longer converting visitors into customers, it’s no longer doing its job and it’s time for a new one.
Here are eight signs to look for to help you objectively look at your website to determine whether it’s time for a new one or not.
Aging Design
Your website is a reflection of your company, for better or worse. If the design is old and outdated, it’s definitely for the worse. To make the best impression and to show potential customers your company is legit, you need a website that isn’t stuck in the past. A fresh modern site helps to instills trust, competence and shows success. If you’re wondering how your website measures up, take a peek at the competition and see how you compare to the top competitors in your industry.
Off Brand
To make a positive lasting impression on visitors, it’s important that your website match your brand from your logo and color theme to your messaging. Brands typically evolve over time so it’s essential for your website to evolve with it in order to maintain a unique identity for your business.
Outdated Messaging
A website is a powerful marketing tool, but it’s only effect as the content you’re putting out there. Outdated messaging, ineffective calls to action and pages that lacks basic on-page SEO are all signs your content needs a refresh. Fresh content can improve your website’s search engine rankings, increase exposure and give visitors a reason to return.
Difficult to Update
There was a time when you needed to be fluent in HTML to make even the slightest change to a website, but that should no longer be the case. Content management systems (CMS) have made it so that anyone who can use a computer can make simple website changes and updates like posting a blog, adding an event, fixing a typo or changing out some copy. If your website is built on a platform that is difficult to use and you have to rely on a web developer for every little change, it’s costing you time and money.
Failing Technology
I’ve heard technology moves at the speed of light, and while I’m not sure it that’s technically true, there have been a lot of advances in technology and website best practices over the last few years. The kicker here is that it’s often in the new, out with the old and that leaves older sites relying on older technology to begin running into trouble. If you’re beginning to spend more and more time on the technical aspects of your site, troubleshooting hosting issues, shopping cart errors or fighting with your CMS, it’s probably time for an upgrade.
Not Mobile Friendly
About half of website traffic comes from mobile devices. Google even now predominantly uses mobile versions for indexing and ranking. If your website isn’t mobile friendly, it’s time to update your website with a responsive design that will look great and function properly regardless of what size device it’s viewed on.
Offers a Poor User Experience
For a website to be successful, it needs to provide a meaningful and relevant experience for your visitors. It needs to be easy to navigate, offer engaging and valuable content or your visitors will leave without engaging with your company. Look at your Google Analytics bounce rate. This is a measure of how many visitors come to your site and only look at the first page they land on without clicking through to another page. While there are things you can do to improve user experience and lower your site’s bounce rate, often starting with a web design that centers around the user experience is the best option.
Not Converting
Your website is a marketing tool. Its main purpose is to help drive sales for your business. It doesn’t really matter how old your website is, it could be 10 years old or brand new, if it’s not brining in business, it’s not working. Maybe you’ve seen a recent drop in traffic or leads or maybe you’ve never gotten much in the first place. If your website isn’t helping you get more customers, it’s time to for a redesign that will.
Ready for a New Website?
For many new customers, your website is the first impression they’ll get of your business. For return customers, in needs to reinforce what they already know. If your website no longer represents your company, is plagued by old or difficult to use technology, offers a poor user experience or isn’t converting, it’s time for a new one. But if you’re here reading this blog, you probably already knew that. Let us help you recapture your audience and remain relevant with a website that’s redesigned with your customers and goals in mind. We’ll seek out your needs and exceed them in every possible way while setting you up with custom website that will grow with your company. Give us a call at (414) 232-7862 or contact us online to find out if we’re a good fit for you.
Recent Comments