Your website design harks back to the distant 2000s, but most of your business news is not there because you simply don't have the necessary subpages and headings? Or have you been noticing a steady decline in traffic for some time now, as well as in conversions and new customers/sales coming through the site?
Then ask yourself: o when was my website updated? After all, it's not just your marketing tool, it's the virtual face of your company/brand. It should therefore be treated with a little more care and love, because that's the only way to attract success.
Especially since sometimes it's not even necessary to rebuild an old website - sometimes a cosmetic, hygienic, technical and/or stylistic update is all it takes, which won't take much time or cost a lot of money, but will give your website - and the results it generates - a powerful new boost.
So let's take a closer look at the signs that your website is in need of an update.
Website no longer meets current technological criteria
With the advent of smartphones, an increasing share of internet browsing devices is now on smartphones - it is estimated that around 60% of visits to the website are from mobile devices - phones and tablets. It is therefore very important that your website design be adapted to the mobile phone screen: if a visitor cannot navigate comfortably on their device, you simply lose that visitor.
But a technological update goes beyond that: it's recommended to update the software as well, by implementing solutions that speed up your website's loading speed. Did you know that the average un-updated website takes 15 seconds to load, but 56% of users wait only 3 seconds - after which they simply close the browser window? Don't lose customers - make sure your website loads quickly and smoothly.
The website is not secure
When updating your website, you also need to think about its security - installing an SSL certificate, otherwise you risk that the visiting customer's browser will throw a message saying that it is not safe to open your page. Not to mention that nowadays, a website without SSL is also a sign of negligence and lack of business integrity on the part of its owner - is this really how you want to communicate your brand?
The website is no longer in line with business changes
There can be many reasons for this: you may be entering new markets, taking a different direction, or you may have developed new products for which the existing website structure is not sufficient to reflect.
It may be that your brand is being relaunched - and your website design needs to be updated along with it. Sometimes small cosmetic changes are enough, and sometimes brand renewal becomes an opportunity for more substantial changes to the website - evidence that you have not only changed the colours of your logo, but also introduced profound changes in the way you run, operate and represent your business.
The site is not easy to maintain
A website - unless it is created for a short-term event/project - usually lasts for years, so it is very important that the information and parts of it are you can update regularly and easily yourself. Naturally, a website that requires the slightest change to be referred to specialists is not a user-friendly one, nor is one that prevents customers from finding the freshest and most up-to-date information.
Content management systems are constantly evolving, so if yours is not user-friendly (i.e. you), perhaps it's time to replace it with another one and make your website more user-friendly?
The website is not achieving the desired goals
When you're not happy with your traffic, the length of time visitors spend on your website, the number of clicks and conversions, it's time to think about a refresh. Sometimes it takes very little to turn results around. One of your most effective helpers is SEO audit and an action plan drawn up by specialists, how to improve the reach, visibility and effectiveness of your website. However, you must remember that if you want to become a top ranker for certain search keywords, you will need to make a sustained effort - one-off help will not be enough. And you need to update your strategy regularly, not only because of the changing market, but also because of the constant changes in Google's algorithms. And keeping your website up to date also sends a signal to the search engines that you are a serious source worthy of ranking higher in the query results.
Don't forget that your user may change over time - so when updating your website, it's also worth rethinking the portrait of your current statistical user and how the updated website could be more attractive, user-friendly and acceptable to them. Or maybe even help you attract new users or find new employees.
The website is not user-friendly
This could be another reason why your website is not achieving the desired goals. And you can understand that your website is not very easy to use by answering these questions honestly:
– Is the navigation bar not overloaded with headings?
– if a person comes here looking for a specific product/service - how many pages does he/she have to go through before he/she finds the right information?
– Are there large blocks of text on the website?
The cleaner and purer the information on your website, the smoother and clearer the message you convey, the more functional and effective this marketing tool is for you.
Website design is aesthetically and functionally outdated
Often seen in Tena websiteswith a strong focus on content and digital marketing, but design and navigation solutions that do not impress. What you really don't need on your website is complex and cumbersome navigation, eye-catching and annoying colour schemes, and excessively long 'contact us' forms. Instead of attracting customers, they scare them away.
Redesigning your website is a great opportunity to assess how well it fits your sales and marketing strategy, integrate your social media plugins, think about what kind of visitor interactions you're aiming for, and how you'll make it easy and clear for people who visit your website to find the information or product they need. Finally, how you will communicate your special offers, promotions, notifications - all of which can be implemented during the relaunch of your existing website.
Technology is advancing, so instead of standing still, use new tools to help your business grow.