10 Telltale Signs You Need A New Website Design
Your business success could depend on the effectiveness of your website! Today a functional and user-friendly website is critical to help customers learn about your services. A quality site also helps position you as the go-to expert in your area of products or services.
When is the last time you updated your site’s design? The digital world changes quickly and often. What worked for websites a few years ago—or even last year—might no longer be relevant.
Whether you have a professional site or you created it yourself, it must keep up with the latest trends to sustain your business. If you’re not sure that it’s time for a new website design, consider these ten telltale signs that your site is out of date!
1. 1999 Called (and It Wants Its Website Back)
You invested time and marketing dollars into a robust and comprehensive website build years ago. A professional developer created a fully-functional site with cohesive branding and everything you needed at the time.
While we’re sure your site was a good investment at the time, we’re sorry to tell you it’s probably an outdated website design by now. If you haven’t invested in a website refresh within the past year, now is the time to stop relying on it like it’s 1999 and let the design catch up to current trends.
2. You Lose Customers
Has your online order volume declined? Your website could be to blame.
When visitors can’t find what they need or must work through too many clicks to create and order and complete payment, they’ll abandon your site and find a more user-friendly place to shop. If you aren’t getting as many online orders over the past several months, it’s time to review your site and make some updates.
3. Traffic Drops
Do you track website traffic? If you’re paying for digital marketing ads, but visitors never make it to your website, your website might be the problem.
When visitors arrive, how long do they stay? Do they engage in content like blogs or videos? Are they ordering products?
If you notice a drop in traffic and website activity, an expert can review your pages and recommend updates to generate more activity.
4. Broken Links and Buttons to Nowhere
Does everything work? Losing traffic can be a big sign that links and buttons no longer work on your website.
As online technology changes, sometimes plug-ins and coding become obsolete. Without checking links and making website updates, you risk frustrating users with broken links and buttons that lead to nowhere.
A comprehensive review of your site can identify links that don’t work and resolve user experience issues.
5. It’s Slow
We can’t blame slow website loading times on dial-up internet anymore. Website users don’t have the time (or patience) to wait for your slow website to load using today’s fast internet technology.
Your website should load within a few seconds of clicking on a link. If users experience a minute or more of wait time, they’ll move on to a website for another company that can respond more quickly and delivers prompt information.
6. It’s Not Fit for Phones
Website’s today must be optimized for mobile technology. More Americans now use smartphones as the primary means of online access compared to desktop or laptop use. To reach customers who prefer using mobile devices to access your website, it must load easily and be user-friendly for every device.
Responsive design is no longer an option for businesses that rely on a website for marketing or to conduct online shopping.
7. Content Is Out of Date
Is your content still relevant to your business? If you haven’t posted a new blog this year or your service offerings no longer match what you do, these are signs you need a new website.
Digital communications are “here and now.” Books and printed text can be out of date, but your website must stay current. Customers expect to find up-to-date information about operating hours, available services, and your location. They also rely on you for recent content like blogs or videos to recognize you as an expert in your industry.
8. You Don’t Appear On SERPs
Have you Googled your business lately? If your website doesn’t appear on any of the first few SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages), the internet can’t find your site. If a search can’t find you, customers can’t either.
Your position on SERPs is critical to growing your business. When a potential customer searches for your products or services, you want your website to land near the top of the search results pages—above your competition.
A new website design will incorporate current SEO (Search Engine Optimization) strategies to help improve your site’s visibility.
9. It Only Works In One Browser
If your website only works in Microsoft Explorer, you’re missing an enormous pool of potential customers that use other internet browsers. A user-friendly website design works in any browser on any device. If Google can’t find you from a search through Chrome, you’re losing business!
10. You Don’t Send People To Your Website
Effective marketing strategies use websites to generate traffic and convert potential customers into actual customers. However, if you know your website is a black hole of chaotic information and broken links, you probably don’t send people there when they ask about your business.
Your company’s website should be your digital storefront! With an updated design, you have a site you can be proud of and that visitors find useful. An effective website helps boost your business and should be one of the first places you send people who inquire about what you do.
Don’t Be Afraid of a New Website Design
Updating a website isn’t the arduous undertaking it once was. The right website design professionals can take an outdated design, target the best areas for improvement, and deliver a new website design without the headaches you probably experienced when you first developed your site.
If any of the signs tell you it’s time, contact us! AJS Web Design is here to help your website work better for you.