We live in a tech-heavy world these days. That means having an attractive and functioning website is vital to the success of any business. Often the first thing a user does when hearing about a new company or making a purchase decision is to go online. What many businesses don’t realize though is that web development isn’t a one-off deal. Taste and consumer habits change, so your website should as well. Doing a website redesign or refresh every few years is a great way to keep your business fresh and appealing to consumers. But how do you know if it’s time for a new website? Here are a few signs.
It Isn’t Mobile-Optimized
These days, more than 50% of all web traffic comes from mobile devices, and that number is rising each year. It’s amazing that we walk around with mini-computers in our pockets, and users definitely take advantage of that these days. Not having a mobile-optimized website means that you’re missing out on at least 50% of consumers if not more.
A poor mobile-optimized website can drive away users and it can hurt search engine rankings. Google now favors mobile-friendly websites, so if your website can’t function on a phone or tablet you can expect your rankings to take a hit.
It’s Not Optimized
As an SEO and Web Development Agency, we believe that these two should go hand in hand. It really just makes sense to have a website that both functions for your business and users, and ranks so that it’s visible to new users.
There are tons of factors that go into optimizing a website from keywords, content, URL, links, and more. Sometimes it’s possible to tweak an existing website for optimization, but if your website is super old you may have to bite the bullet and completely redo it. It will definitely be worth it though!
It’s Not User Friendly
Have you ever visited a website only to become frustrated by how hard it is to use? That’s the last thing you want visitors to your website to feel. A good website should look good, be easy to navigate, run smoothly, respond quickly, and be informative.
If you want to see how user-friendly your website is try asking someone who’s not in your business or hasn’t been on it before to go on and perform a simple task like finding a simple page. If they’re not able to in under a minute, it’s time to revamp your website.
It’s Too Slow
Page speed is super important these days. People are impatient and aren’t willing to wait around for a page to load. In fact, most users will leave if it takes over 30 seconds for a page to load. Slow site speed is a major factor in user experience, so you need to make sure your website works quickly on both desktop and mobile.
Site speed also impacts rankings. Don’t even bother trying to work on SEO if your website runs at a snail’s pace or has certain parts that don’t load fully like large images. Google takes into account site speed for rankings, and while it may be possible to increase speed on your old site that’s not always the case.
It Can’t Be Updated Easily
Maybe you’re thinking, I have a beautiful website that functions well. Great, but can you easily update content? If not, your website isn’t functioning how it should. Websites should be updated fairly regularly to signal to Google and users that it’s still alive. You should be able to easily add blogs, update the page content, create new pages, and more.
This is something you should consider when developing a website. Often time people shell out money for a custom-designed website, but then realize they can’t use the backend. Or maybe you cheaped out and your web developer locked it so only they can edit it. Both of these happen more often than they should. Now you shouldn’t expect to make major changes without some help, but a good website should allow you to easily update content or make minor changes.
It No Longer Reflects Your Brand
Brands and marketing goals evolve with a business. So why isn’t your website? Your website is the digital face of your company. As your business changes and grows so should your site. Maybe that means minor changes such as tweaking a few targeted keywords or updating the logo.
If your business has gone through any major brand or marketing changes though, it only makes sense to reflect those on your site. Users are pretty brand-savvy these days, and they’ll notice if your website doesn’t match your other branding.
It Looks Dated
This is the hardest, yet most common reasons that businesses need a new website. Many businesses have a hard time realizing that the website they paid a lot of money for years ago just doesn’t look good anymore.
First impressions are important, and your website is the face of your company online. You absolutely want to make sure it looks like it’s from this era. Even if your website is accurate and works well if it looks like it’s from the early 90’s it’s not going to get the type of traction you’re hoping for.
Ready to take the plunge and invest in a new website? Contact us today! Our web development team is ready to create a stunning website that matches your business’s needs.
