How often do you look at your website? I mean really look at it?
If you’re like many business owners, you probably invested money a few years ago to make your website look shiny and new with all the latest bells and whistles. And then? Well…you went back to running your business.
Managing your business is what you DO. But there’s a danger in the mentality of thinking, if you build it they will come.
You can’t just launch a website and then never take steps to improve it. Customers aren’t going to just magically find you when they’re searching for the product or service you offer.
In order to deliver the results you want, your website needs to be: populated with relevant, fresh content; maintained for security and privacy reasons (especially if you sell items directly off your site); and well-optimized for search.
So how do you know if your website needs an overhaul? How do you know when it’s time to bring in a professional and get your website back to performing at optimal levels driving customers, leads, and new business?
Here are our top 10 signs you need a new website!
- It’s Not Mobile-Friendly-You’ve seen these websites before. They have really tiny fonts, or their photos take a long time to load, or the formatting just looks…off. The reason the site looks wonky is because it hasn’t been optimized properly to be user-friendly on mobile devices. And here’s the kicker – Google is ranking all websites (for desktop or mobile search) based on how well they’re optimized for mobile devices. If your site doesn’t look good on your smart phone, chances are it’s time to redo your website.
- It’s Ugly-An unattractive website is simply not as pleasing to the eye as other websites with a sleek design. An outdated design makes you look unprofessional and it tells your customers that you don’t really care what your site looks like. Most times, your website is the very first impression people have of your business. It’s where they determine — in just a few seconds — whether you are worth their time and money. An outdated design makes you lose credibility, trust, and ultimately, the customer.
- Inconsistent Look and Feel-This happens a lot with businesses that have added new products or services, have merged or combined services with another business, or have switched graphic designers or copywriters in a way that is visibly noticeable to customers. Inconsistencies on the website — such as different colors, designs, or fonts — are a distraction to the customer. Your goal is for customers to have a seamless experience on your site. An inconsistent look and feel distracts them from the reason they landed on your site in the first place.
- Slow Load Time-Three seconds. That’s how long people will wait for a website to load on their screen. Three seconds! We’ve all clicked on sites where the images and text take f-o-r-e-v-e-r to load and it can be incredibly frustrating. Slow loading websites are a turn-off to customers and visitors who are actively searching for your product or service and they are one of the biggest reasons for a website overhaul.
- Poor Navigation-Every website designer will tell you that the user experience is central to a strong website. If your site is tough to follow, with poor navigation, then users “get lost” or frustrated. They landed on your site to find something specific, but the navigation takes them either in a loop or to pages that are of no value. The user experience is everything. If customers can’t find what they’re looking for easily and quickly, they’ll click off and do another search and spend their money somewhere else.
- Poor or Low Ranking-If your website is ranking low on Google search, that is a sure sign you need either a new website or an overhaul on your existing site. Low ranking means Google doesn’t see your site as being reliable or valuable to customers. This could be due to a number of things such as: outdated or stale copy; no relevant keywords; too many keywords (keyword stuffing); your page load speed; not optimized for mobile; and more. One way to see what you’re missing is to Google your competitors that are ranking higher than you and see what they’re doing (and then do it better.)
- Your Website Isn’t Secure-Go to your website page and look in the navigation bar. The url for your site should begin with https:// – does it? If not, your website isn’t secure. Currently, Google labels sites without the “s” in the navigation (i.e. http://) as insecure and they warn users that their information may not be safe. With a website redesign, your site will be secure, it will load faster, and your customers will have peace of mind knowing any information they share is unlikely to be compromised.
- Hard To UpdateOlder websites and do-it-yourself websites may look good for awhile, but they often don’t have a good backdoor system for updating content, images, and features. Investing in a good content management system (CMS) platform will allow you to easily update your site as needed. Which means you can keep the content fresh and adjust it as necessary for SEO and ranking purposes.
- Branding Is Outdated-Consumers want consistency in the brands with which they engage. Like a fly in the soup at a top restaurant, inconsistent branding can be a stain on all of your branding and marketing efforts. Consider your colors. Have they changed? Are they consistent from your home page across your interior landing pages? What about your business name, your logo, or your tagline? Are customers getting a consistent message across your entire website or are their slight differences that can distract and discourage them? Your website is like your 24/7 salesperson. It’s the face of your business when you’re not dealing with customers in person. Customers can spot outdated or inconsistent branding a mile away, which is why it makes our list for top reasons you need a new website.
- Low Conversion Rate-Getting visitors or traffic to your website is a great goal, but if they’re not converting to sales or at least qualified leads, your website isn’t working for you. What this boils down to is that while customers are getting to your site, when they get there, they’re not finding your site valuable. If it’s not worth their time, they will leave. This is why a new website that not only attracts visitors, but converts them to customers, is a worthwhile investment.
Does your website need an overhaul or a full redesign? Not sure? We can help. Give us a call or email us at info@bigrockonline.com. We’ll conduct an assessment and discuss a plan of action that will transform your website into one that works for your customers and you.
