All businesses need to update their websites to attract new customers. When websites are left outdated or difficult to navigate, businesses risk seeing new customers go elsewhere for services and products. ProExquisite Marketing recently released survey results showing that a large majority of customers will not utilize or engage with an outdated website. There are eight tell-tale signs that your website needs a makeover:
1. You hesitate to share your website because you are not proud of it. Clearly, that indicates that you need a new one.
2. Your website looks like it has not been recently updated. Not only should your website work smoothly, it should look appealing and engaging.
3. Five years have passed since you last updated. There is no specific rule regarding the amount of time a business can go between website updates. However, technological advances and Google rankings can now determine how effective your website is at attracting new customers and retaining existing ones.
4. Your website is hard to use with a mobile device. Statistica recently reported that over half of customers utilize their mobile devices rather than PC’s to access websites, and Google now largely ranks websites according to mobile device use. Responsive design is crucial to the success of all your websites, so they all should be mobile-friendly from the very beginning. More information on website access and design can be found here.
5. Your website is failing to deliver the results you want. Perhaps your website is older but still producing acceptable traffic and potential customers. However, if you have seen decreased traffic and unacceptable results, updating your website could make all the difference.
6. Your website is lagging behind those of competitors. While you must do what works for your company and not simply employ your competitors’ marketing methods, you should still look around at your online competition to see where you stand in comparison. It might be time to give your own website an overhaul to outshine others.
7. User experience is poor. If your website proves frustrating to customers regarding navigation—and is simply unattractive—users will go elsewhere. A new design may be just what you need to propel your business’s online results well beyond those of your competitors. User experience should provide engaging and useful information, which usually result from a complete overhaul and not just small improvements.
8. You have trouble making small improvements. You and your employees should be able to easily make small changes such as incorporating a new blog post, product presentation, or event announcement. If these types of changes prove frustrating or impossible, or even require outside help, you should consider a new content management system (CMS).
Redesign or Refresh?
If you’re happy with the overall style and functionality of your website, a refresh could be all you need. That usually involves nothing more complex than updating security plugins, changing images, banners and illustrations or optimizing pages for more traffic.
However, if your site is beginning to look seriously dated – particularly if it doesn’t look good on mobile phones – a rebuild might be the only answer. This doesn’t have to be expensive. Sometimes simply swapping an outdated theme for something more contemporary can make all the difference.
A full ground-up rebuild will cost more, but does have its advantages. You’ll be starting over with full control of your new website’s look and feel, giving you the chance to present your visitors with a perfect user experience.
If you are interested in a complimentary website audit that would give detail analytics on your sites performance contact ProExquisite Marketing today.
