In today’s world, your website serves as your business’s 24/7 storefront. Ideally, it will always be there to meet the needs of your customers, even at 2am when they’re surfing the web in their underwear, credit card in hand. Your website should answer all the questions your customers have and lead them through the buying process.
However, building a great website is just the beginning. With technology constantly evolving, you need to update your website design regularly to keep it functional, stylish, and user-friendly. Most website developers agree that a major website refresh is recommended every two to four years. But how do you know for sure that yours is ready for an update? Keep an eye out for these tell-tale signs:
1. Your website doesn’t look good on every screen size.
With over 59% of all website traffic coming from mobile devices, it is critical that your website is mobile-friendly and is usable on every screen. Not sure if your website currently fits the bill? It’s time to take out your phone and take a quick assessment. As you view your website on your phone, ask yourself these questions:
- Is the text legible and easy to read?
- Are graphics showing up correctly? Are they overlapping other elements of the website?
- Are your calls-to-action and buttons easy to access? Any information that is critical to the customer experience should be near the top of the screen and not require tons of scrolling to find.
2. You have a hard time making small updates to your website.
Is a simple change like updating your business hours on your website a process that takes multiple calls, back-and-forth emails, and hours of frustration? If so, a website refresh is in order. Your company’s internal team should be able to handle small changes that pop up, and if your website’s platform is too complicated for your team to do so, you may need to switch to a new content management system.
3. Your website doesn’t contain many graphics or videos.
While you need some text in order to give visitors the information they need, adding in relevant graphics and videos is also crucial in conveying the message you need to send. Attention spans are shorter than ever, so including visual elements that tell the story fast will keep visitors on your page and engaged longer, improving your bounce rate and, thus, your search engine ranking.
4. Your current website is not providing a streamlined user experience.
Providing a great user experience goes beyond just making sure your website is attractive and contains eye-catching graphics – it also needs to be easy to navigate.
Put yourself in your customer’s shoes and pretend you are going to your website for the first time. Ask yourself these questions:
- How many pages does a person have to navigate to in order to find the information they need? The fewer, the better.
- Is text easy to skim through? Are there larger headlines telling visitors what the content on the page is about?
- Is your menu intuitive and make sense?
- Are there pages dedicated to each product category or service that you provide?
- Is there enough information on each page to answer each of your customer’s questions?
5. Your website has a slow load time.
Around 53% of visitors will leave your site if it’s taking too long to load. And we’re not talking minutes here – even a one-second delay in load time can reduce page views by 11%. Many things can weigh down a website, including unoptimized image and plug-ins that need to be updated.
There are many websites available such as this that allow you to test your website’s speed. Check one out and see how yours compares to your competitors!
6. Poor website performance.
When all else fails, take a look at your Google Analytics to determine if your site is currently serving the needs of your customers or not. Some key indicators of a badly performing website are:
- High bounce rates (above 60%).
- Average session durations below one minute.
- Few or no goal conversions.
- An overall decrease in website traffic.
Are you ready for a website overhaul so you can better reach your business goals? We can help! Our team of website developers, content writers, and digital marketers can make sure your website is ready to show off the best of your brand. Contact us today for expert web development in Rapid City, SD!
