Well, that is a great question! And while the short answer is yes, let me give you some reasons & insights as to why.
YOUR DESIGN IS OUTDATED
Styles change, rapidly. If your site has a look & feel like it was built in the early 2000’s (or if it actually was), visitors to your site are going to notice. 75% of people will judge the credibility of your business based solely on how your website looks! The front page of your website is the first impression many people will get from your company. You wouldn’t want a sun-bleached & faded sign outside your building making that first impression on your potential customers. So why would you settle for an old-school, outdated website greeting them on-line?
SECURITY
This one can’t be stressed enough! If you haven’t touched your site in years, chances are you have code that needs to be updated. Plugins, themes, templates, all of the things that add functionality to your site, need to be updated often. Ignoring these updates can leave you vulnerable to hacking. Trust me, there are a lot of hackers out there looking for sites to hijack. It’s not a matter of if your site will be probed and attacked by bots engineered by hackers, it’s a matter of when. And once they get access, anything can happen. From hiding Google ads in sites to adding pages that link to websites in China, we’ve seen it all. And all of these can destroy your site’s look, reputation, search engine rankings, & much more!
SLOW LOAD TIMES
Did you know that 47% of consumers expect a website to load in less than 2 seconds? And what’s more, approximately 40% will abandon a website entirely if it takes longer than 3 seconds to load. If your website isn’t loading very quickly, you might be losing potential readers & customers by the second & your SEO could be suffering for this very same reason.
So, if you think your website could be loading faster, it might be time to think about a website redesign.
SEO
Search engine optimization, the one and only way to truly improve your SEO is to build a better website. First, post content that’s relevant to your business. Then, properly tag it & optimize it so search engines can crawl it and learn what your website is about. The more content you have relative to the search terms you want to rank for, the better your search results.
It’s that easy & hard at the same time. There are a lot of folks out there who will try and sell you on shortcuts & quick ways to improve your businesses organic placement when it comes to search. But much like the vast majority of “get rich quick” schemes, they don’t work for long. Don’t fall for it. Do SEO the honest way & post useful content.
IT’S NOT MOBILE FRIENDLY
Pretty much everyone owns a smartphone these days, in fact, over 85% of internet users own & regularly use a smartphone.
And what’s more, according to Google 61% of users are highly unlikely to return to a website that doesn’t work well on mobile, with 40% visiting a competitor’s website instead, all because the original website they intended to visit wasn’t mobile-friendly
Having a mobile responsive website is more important now than ever before & you may actually be losing business by not adapting to the current standard!
YOUR COMPETITORS HAVE REDESIGNED THEIR WEBSITES
Unless you’re an experienced web designer, it can be hard to tell whether your site is outdated or not. One way to find out is to check your competitors’ website(s) as well as other similar websites in the industry.
Check if they’ve recently made significant changes to their designs. See to it that your current web design process is not wildly different from theirs. Also, consider the colors, text size, and graphics they’re using. If they’ve done a redesign recently and their graphics are quite different than yours, then it’s best to get feedback from a professional web designer.
Remember that outdated designs aren’t just about appearance. Like it or not, the look & functionality of your website portrays how professional you look to your visitors.
Trends will change over time in every industry. Yours is no different! Take a look at your competitors’ websites. If your site looks outdated in comparison, you’ll want to keep up with the pack by taking advantage of new trends and implementing them into your website design.
In general, a brand’s website should be redesigned every 3-4 years. However, the exact frequency will depend on your industry. If you’re in an industry that sells cutting-edge technology, for example, consider updating your site more often to stay ahead of the game. You don’t want to appear outdated, so push boundaries to keep up with your clients ever-changing needs.
YOU’RE GETTING COMPLAINTS
Have you heard any of the following from your clients:
- I had trouble finding you online.
- I’m experiencing issues with the checkout process.
- I clicked a link, but it took me to an error page.
- I don’t know how to buy your product.
All of these issues contribute to lost revenue. You want your customers to easily navigate through your site with minimal load times and zero broken links. If your clients can’t figure out how to buy a product or service from you, how can you hope to stay in business? Consistent complaints about the functionality or experience of your website is another major reason to redesign.
YOU DON’T HAVE A BLOG OR FRESH CONTENT
Blogging is important for so many reasons. For one, it provides a way for you to connect with your visitors & customers on a more personal level. Through a blog, you can share tips, advice, & whatever else your visitors might be interested in learning.
Additionally, blogging is great for SEO. Google LOVES fresh content on websites & blogging is a great way to provide this. Plus, it’s a known fact that B2B marketers who blog receive 67% more leads than those who don’t, so it’s also great for business growth!
If your current website doesn’t have a blog, you might consider a website redesign to incorporate one.
SO TO SUM IT UP…
Your website is the face of your company online & if presented well can bring in a lot of extra business.
Don’t you think it’s worth investing in a website that makes a great first impression? If it’s been a few years since you last updated your website & you’re ready to talk website redesign or you’d just like a little more information, I’d would love to chat with you!
