Updating your website is a trend that’s catching on and for good reasons. Technology, design, SEO and user-experience trends are constantly evolving. If your website is outdated, offers a poor user-experience, or search engines don’t even know your website exists, it might be time to invest in an updated design.
An updated design is a large investment, and it’s not just simply transferring a theme on WordPress. It’s changing the way users navigate your website and determining the funnel you want your users to flow through. What is your website used for? What is the end goal of the user? Does your website represent your company clearly? Not sure? These are some important questions to ask that may help you determine if it’s time for a website redesign.
Here are some of the top reasons why you need a website redesign:
1. Your Website Isn’t Responsive
Does your website currently scale to fit all mobile devices? Mobile search is predicted to overtake desktop search by next year. In order for users to properly navigate your website on a mobile device, it needs to be responsive. Another positive to having a responsive design is search engines favor mobile-friendly websites in the search results over website that aren’t mobile friendly. Why? Because it serves their primary goal of giving a better user-experience to their clients.
2. Search Engines Have No Clue Your Website Exists
Outdated websites are sometimes built on platforms that search engines can’t even crawl such as: Flash, Tables, Java, etc. Search engines will devalue the content when it’s not built in an HTML format. Search engine crawlers can’t read image, video, or flash files. So, if your website is outdated and content is placed on images or flash files, search engines aren’t reading it. The best way to tell how search engines are reading your site is to look at how Google is caching the page.
3. Users Aren’t Navigating Through Your Website
In Google Analytics, you’ll be able to tell the average pages viewed per session. If it’s not higher than 1.0, it’s probably time to rethink the design. This can mean that users are getting lost, or the content is completely irrelevant to what they were searching for. You want users to navigate past the homepage of your website because it means the website content and performance is user-friendly. If you have a one page website, this metric won’t work for you. If this is the case, look at the average session duration of each visitor. If it’s less than 20 seconds on average, users aren’t finding what they’re looking for.
4. Calls to Action Don’t Exist
Does your website have a primary goal for each landing page? Is it clearly defined on what the users’ next step is? These are known as calls to action. Each landing page needs to have a goal and a next step for the user. This will help the user easily navigate through each page of the website and, without question, increase the chances of them converting.
5. Your Website Doesn’t Define Your Company Brand
In this digital age, you only have a few seconds to capture your audience. Is your brand message clearly defined on your website? By clearly defined we mean: exactly what you do, your offer, and what makes you stand out from your competition. Think about it, if you’re searching for a pool installation company, and you come across a website that has nothing pool related on it, or minimal pictures of projects they’ve worked on, you’ll probably click off the website.
When searching for a pool company to install your pool, the first thing you may want to see is a beautiful, well-landscaped pool design that the company has completed. Maybe even linking to a gallery of other pools they’ve built. Next, you would want to see how they’re different. For example, they’ve been in business for over 40 years – that must mean they have lots of experience, great! Lastly, you want to know their offer. An offer might be “A free pool design consultation if you call today!”. Also, a primary call to action should always be present – do I fill out a form, call, visit their showroom, or?. See how everything ties together? A successful website ensures the brand message is clearly defined.
6. Your Website Doesn’t Load Fast Enough
This relates to your desktop loading times as well as your mobile loading times. If your website is taking too long to load on a computer or on mobile devices, you’re going to lose a lot of visitors. People are extremely impatient. If your site is taking longer than 5 seconds to load, you’re in trouble. People aren’t going to stick around and wait for it to load.
This could also be a factor when a website’s imagery isn’t properly optimized. It’s highly recommended to have a developer look into why your website isn’t loading fast enough, and a re-design might be the only fix.
7. You’ve Been Thinking You Need a New Website Design
Does your website look outdated compared to the competition? Are primary features constantly breaking and not functioning the way they once did? These are all signs that your website is outdated. Technology is changing day by day. The functionality and design of websites are too. Be ahead of your competition, not behind. If your gut is telling you your website sucks, it probably does.
Closing Thoughts
These are only a few of the many reasons why a website may need to be redesigned. It’s important to keep your brand in mind and how you want to represent your company online. Think first impressions. Your website is a lead generator giving potential customers their first impression of your company. If your website isn’t generating new leads, doesn’t represent your brand, or it’s simply outdated; REDESIGN IT.
If you need help getting started with a website redesign, learn more about our website design services here or give us a call: 800-871-4130.
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