Your website is an advertisement for your business, product, or service. Not all websites are created equally, however. A poorly designed website can do more harm than good.
According to Adobe, 38% of users will leave a website if its layout or content is unattractive. Once your audience has formed an unfavorable opinion of your brand, it\’s very hard to win them back.
Your website is your company\’s calling card and storefront, all rolled into one. You\’ve got to make a good first impression and then keep that favorable opinion going over the course of the buyer\’s journey.
Here are a few signs that it\’s time for a website redesign.
Signs You Need A Website Redesign
While this list is far from authoritative, here are a few signs you can look out for that it\’s time for a website redesign.
1. Outdated Appearance
Does your website look like a free site from Angelfire circa 1996? While retro might be in for nearly every other industry, tech tends to be forward-facing. Newer is not only better, it\’s the only way.
To tell if your website is up to current standards or not, take a look at some of the other companies in your niche or industry as part of your website redesign process. Don\’t just copy other websites, however. You should just look at some other sites as part of your redesigning strategy.
2. Not Mobile Optimized
63.4% of Internet traffic is coming from mobile devices at this point. Mobile traffic is also predicted to be responsible for 67.2% of e-commerce sales by 2021. Not optimizing your website for mobile is leaving money on the table and pushing customers out the door.
3. Not Configured For Social Media
While social media marketing hasn\’t been quite as trending as it was a few years ago, that\’s largely to do with the fact that it\’s just become integrated into our digital strategies.
At this stage in the evolution of Web 2.0, there\’s absolutely no good reason to not at least consider social media as part of your website strategy.
At the very least, your website content should have social media sharing buttons at the bottom of each post.
While the jury is still out on the efficacy of social sharing for SEO and search engine ranking, it can be a vital source of traffic for your website. It can also lead to your posts going viral, which is the Holy Grail of digital marketing.
You should at least factor the major social media networks into your website redesign.
Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest can potentially bring countless eyes and ears to your website. It\’ll also boost your brand\’s reputation, as an additional benefit.
4. Not Ranking On Google
Google updates its algorithm all the time. They\’re essentially the nervous system of the Internet, at this point. They need to stay up to speed with how it\’s actually being used.
There are always need variables being added to Google\’s algorithms. Recently, page load time has become increasingly important for search engine ranking, for instance.
On-site SEO is another factor that might need to be addressed in your website redesign.
Sometimes links get broken. The way Google analyzes keywords might change, as well. Other factors are more mysterious and hard to trace, such as the number of social shares.
If your website isn\’t showing up on Google, that\’s one of the best giveaways that a website redesign is in order.
5. Doesn\’t Reflect Your Rebranding
If you\’ve recently rebranded or redesigned your company, you\’re definitely going to need a website redesign. 90% of customers expect a consistent multichannel experience. That means your website and social media need to match your physical marketing and vice versa.
6. Your Site Is More Than 5 Years Old
The Internet is evolving at the speed of thought. You could easily create a redesigned website every year and you\’d probably be successful, to be honest. That might be a bit of overkill, however, if you\’ve got a limited budget for web development.
5 years is an eternity in the digital economy, however. If your website design is five years old or more, it\’s nearly guaranteed to be outdated.
See our comment about the dangers of an outdated website. It\’s not a good look and pretty much defeats the purpose of having a digital presence.
7. Your Site\’s Not Converting
Having a website to advertise your business and increase brand awareness is all well and good. It\’s great to be acknowledged as a thought leader and an authority in your industry.
Credibility doesn\’t pay the bills, however, and acknowledgment won\’t keep the lights on.
At the end of the day, our websites are designed to make us money. If you\’re selling a product or service, you should be pushing towards making actual sales and conversions.
You could also focus on other tangentially-related business strategies. These might include building your email list or getting your customers to share a link, as an example.
If your website isn\’t resulting in actual conversions or generating actionable leads, it\’s not fulfilling its function. It\’s a surefire sign you need a website redesign.
Your website and digital assets should have some form of a landing page. A marketing funnel would be even better still, as it allows you to segment your audience, which will allow for more actual conversions.
8. Negative User Feedback
To truly see how your website design is measuring up, you should ask your actual users. You might offer some sort of incentive to take a short survey to see how they rate their user experience.
Be prepared for negative feedback, however.
In the world of digital design, there\’s no such thing as bad news. It\’s hard to get users to take time out of their busy lives to basically do market testing for you. The insights are invaluable no matter what they are.
Consider these signs as a kind of website redesign checklist. Go through them all, one by one, if your digital domain isn\’t performing the way you want it to.
Looking For Website Redesign in Montana?
There\’s a lot to keep track of when it comes to conducting business on the web. Trends change faster than the seasons. People\’s expectations are growing more quickly than ever, as well.
Whether you\’re looking for a website redesign or digital branding, we offer everything you need to help your business thrive on the Internet.
See our complete list of services and contact us today with any questions!
