Having a strong online presence is no longer optional. An outdated website will be costing you new business. Not only does an poor website design reflect badly on your company’s brand and reputation but visitors are likely to be getting a poor experience. A poor experience means you are making it difficult for people to find the content they are looking for and even worse making it hard for them to get in touch with you to start that all important first conversation.
Website technology is constantly evolving. In my experience if your website is over 4 years old it is probably time you gave it an overhaul and invest in a redesign. But if you are experiencing any of the problems below at any time you could be hindering your business growth potential and should consider following a website redesign plan to fix these problems.
1. Website doesn’t work well on mobile
It’s been nearly 3 years since Google announced that mobile searches had surpassed desktop searches. User experience on your website can make or break your business. When web visitors have a poor mobile experience they invariably click the back button and leave your website. Leaving your website means you have lost that potential lead.
If your website hasn’t been designed to work on a mobile, you are hindering your visitors’ ability to navigate around your website. Text will be too small to read and it will be particularly hard for them to isolate and click on links. Just think about how long you spend on a website that is difficult to navigate around on your mobile.
To determine if your website is mobile-friendly use the Google mobile-friendly test tool. You don’t want to lose market share to your competitors simply because you were too slow to adapt to mobile browsing trends.
2. Website isn’t ranking in search engines
Search engine algorithms are constantly updating, so if your organic search rankings are low, it could mean that your website and digital strategy is ready for an overhaul.
The most significant change for sometime is that Google will be responding to the shift in user behaviour with mobile-first indexing. This means Google will create and rank its search listings based on the mobile version of your website content. So ultimately your website will fail to rank on search engines if it is not designed for mobile.
But not only are search engines constant changing, the way we use them also changes. Instead of typing keyword-based queries we now often search the way we talk. So your website should be designed with long-term SEO strategies in mind. You still need to incorporate keywords into your website structure, but you also need to think about topics that are relevant to your business and your target audience. Then you can create comprehensive content around them. A great tactic for manufacturing companies to address long-term seo success is to build a blog into your website redesign.
3. Website is not generating quality leads
The phone stopped ringing and you haven’t had a web enquiry for sometime. When you dig deeper you might have found high bounce rates, low time on site and low average pages per visits.
These are all indicators your website visitors don’t find your current site useful. It’s more than likely that it’s time to re-evaluate your approach and redesign your website.
To generate quality leads your website redesign should start by researching your target audience and set your business goals and marketing targets. This will create the focus for a more successful website redesign project.
4. Website just looks outdated
Web design trends are constantly evolving. Something that looked fresh yesterday can seem dated overnight.
Today it’s all about clean design and easy navigation. So if your site is feeling cluttered and you are finding it hard to find content, you can bet your visitors are finding it hard too. Then it is time to consider a redesign.
Well designed websites will build trust in your company and contribute to increased click through rates and form submissions and ultimately more customers.
5. Slow page loading time
If your website is slow to load you are not only risking annoying your visitors and causing them to leave but you will also be hurting your search engine ranking.
There are several ways for a developer to speed up a website in the short term but in the long run you will need a fast loading website to ensure your customers stick around and have a great experience on your website.
6. It’s difficult to add new content
The success of your website and your digital strategy is dependant on adding new content on a regular basis. If it is hard and/or costly for your or marketing team to add content it hinders your ability to generate those new leads that your sales team are relying upon.
When you are considering your new website design make sure you chose a platform that has an easy to use content management system (CMS). Being able to add blogs, calls-to-actions and forms without asking for a developer to edit the code means you are much more agile and able to respond more quickly to improve your marketing results.
7. It’s difficult to share your content
Each time a website visitor shares your content on social media, the search engines count it as a vote of confidence in your brand. It is the digital equivalent of a business referral.
If your website design makes it difficult for user to share your pages and posts on social media you are missing those referrals. Make sure your design encourages sharing by including social media buttons.
Conclusion
Your website is an investment in the future success of your business. It is one of your most important business assets. If you are experiencing any of these problems they will be hindering your growth plans and ultimately the success of your company. Contact us to start planning your website redesign. It doesn’t need to be draw out process, we will get your new website online within 90 days.{{cta(‘be1447bd-cb3a-416e-998f-009894dc2088’)}}
