7 Signs Your Website Needs a Redesign Update

Are you seeing fewer visitors to your website or low conversion rates, despite your best marketing and advertising efforts? It could be because your site is dated.

Your Virtual Storefront

More and more, businesses across the globe benefit from having an online presence. But, just as with a brick-and-mortar establishment, a shabby, outdated facade will make potential clients do a quick 360 and, that’s only if they even discover you!

In fact, research found that businesses have only 50 milliseconds to make a good first impression with their website, so if your website is outdated, you are not just missing opportunities to be found, but actually discouraging potential customers from returning to your products or services.

Experts predict that Millennials will have more than $1.4 trillion in spending power by next year, a significant increase of their $600 billion spending power just a few years ago.

And since Millennials as well as the next generation, unofficially termed Gen Z, were essentially born into technology and both are members of today’s largest consumer group, it stands to reason that today’s organizations need to evolve with their ideal consumers.

Signs You Need To Update Your Website

When you visit a website that doesn’t appear to have been cared for, what is your first impression? This website is a good example of one that would quickly turn off potential readers. If you’re not sure if your site is outdated, here are some things to look for.

No (Or Low) New Visits/Low Conversion Rates/Shorter Visits

Most of today’s websites include some kind of analytics to help them understand new visitors, number of page views, sources of visitors, etc. If you’ve seen a decline in these numbers or a decrease in the number of times visitors are viewing your site, it could be because of the design or usability of the site.

For some small businesses, analytics may not even be incorporated into your site, but this data is essential to discovering what is working and what isn’t.

Not Showing Up On SERPs

When was the last time you Googled your business or service? Google changes their algorithms frequently to meet the search demands of their users. While you may believe that having a website for a long time improves your SERP results, it’s only part of it, and not even the most important part of it. One study found that “unique visitors” came more from organic searches for medical services than any other source but if your site is outdated, your business won’t likely show up on the SERP 

SEO – Search Engine Optimization – became a critical part of having an effective website but even that has changed. A rise in “near me” searches, prompted an increased focus on local SEO. A quick search of your particular services or products will likely yield a Google search suggestion of “near me” and if you don’t have locally-relevant information on your site, your customers will more likely visit the ones that do.

Not Multi-Platform

Technology shifts so frequently that many organizations find it difficult to keep up and, thus, will outsource different departments who specialize in technology-related industries. Research done by Dell revealed that 85 percent of jobs in 2030 have not even been invented yet, because of the rapid pace of technology.

The vast majority of U.S. shoppers own smartphones, with Millennials and Gen Z owning the largest percentage (as much as 96 percent). One study found that Millennials spend almost six hours a day on their smartphones, slightly more than baby boomers’ five hours. 

The majority (54 percent) of online shoppers still use a desktop or laptop computer to make online purchases but 45 percent use either a tablet or smartphone.

If your website is not mobile-friendly, or accessible across multiple platforms, you could be losing business. There are different ways to be multi-platform, either by website design or developing an app but it is essential that your site – and everything you have to offer – can be accessed regardless of the device being used.

You Have Not Adopted A Modern CMS

Content Management Systems (CMS) platforms such as WordPress or Shopify have revolutionized the way today’s websites are built. 

Instead of needing to understand and write a lot of HTML and code, using a CMS allows you to streamline the process of building and maintaining a website that is consistent and easy to scale.

With a modern CMS, you can utilize add-ons (plugins) that allow you to customize how you want to engage your customers and deliver content appropriately. From analytics to abandoned cart management, a CMS makes creating an impactful, interactive website much easier and more consistent.

Too Much Text/Irrelevant Text

Unless you’re providing a white paper or another scholarly article, having too much text is a huge turn-off. Research has found that website visitors have time to read approximately 28 percent of the words during their visit, but 20 percent is more likely.

Further, large blocks of text without breaks, bullet points, or headers (which, also, increase SEO), will bore your visitors. Studies have found that internet surfers read in an “F” pattern and, further, they don’t really read. Rather, they scan.

Search engines also scan your site for relevant information; the most relevant get the most attention. This means incorporating back-links, external links to reputable sources, and data that is relevant to your business is critical to getting and staying recognized.

Outdated Fonts/Images

When the web first became more accessible, playing around with funky fonts was a lot of fun when building websites. However, outdated fonts (or too many different ones) might cause pages to load slowly or not show at all. Remember, you have 50 milliseconds to make a great first impression but outdated fonts or images can increase loading time and, thus, remove your chance to make the best impression.

Long Loading Times

If your website contains a lot of extras such as flash, advertisements, banners, or images, your load time will be significantly reduced. With the incorporation of new technologies such as compression capabilities, caching, image optimization, etc., page-load times can be significantly improved.

It’s Never Too Late to Upgrade

It may feel overwhelming to consider a website redesign but if you are not getting the kind of website traffic you should be, it could be that your site is outdated. Realizing your site needs an upgrade? It’s not too late! We can help you modernize your business and drive more leads. Contact us today to find out how!