Has it been awhile since you refreshed your website's design? If so, it's definitely time for a new website makeover! Here are five most important signs to consider...
How long has it been since your business had a website makeover? We thought so!
The world of web design is ever-evolving and new trends are appearing every day. Web design in this day and age affects much more than your user’s experience; it also affects critical factors like your placement in search engine rankings.
An obsolete website could hurt your business in many ways and should be corrected immediately if you are serious about marketing your business online.
Here are 6 signs your brand needs a new website makeover...
1. Your Site Is Underperforming When It Comes To Conversions
Your first goal when creating a website should not be to dazzle your visitors but to convert them into leads - Or better yet, buyers.
Was your website once converting well, but you now see a decline in conversions? Then it might be a sign your site needs an overhaul.
Website Makeover Fact: Poor design and failure to make crucial, ever-evolving changes to meet new criteria may result in your website's demotion by Google.
2. Your Website No Longer Reflects Your Brand
One of the issues with old websites is they might not be compatible with your current brand image. Many businesses look to change their branding. They may start with their promo items or their packaging. However, if there is a lack of consistency on the website, you’ll have difficulty reconciling that with your products.
Website Makeover Fact: Web design plays an integral part in marketing and branding. It is important that your website’s look remain consistent with the rest of your marketing material - Online and offline.
If you feel like your website’s design is steering away from your brand, it may be wise to hire a team charged specifically with managing your new website makeover.
There are many to choose from based on niche, location, and design type. As we have focused on the importance of branding, you might consider a web design team.
3. Your Pages Are Not Ranking
In some cases, your website’s design might be the main reason why your site isn’t ranking. Google has started focusing on factors other than incoming links. Your website’s design and configuration is of high importance.
For instance, a lot of value has been placed on user experience - or UX, for short. Anything that isn’t conducive to a good user experience is monitored by Google’s algorithm and rankings are adjusted accordingly.
A site with difficult or in-optimal navigation will be severely demerited in search rankings. The same goes for websites with high bounce rates. High bounce rates are often caused by poor navigation and design as well.
Other factors such as site speed and loading times also have a big effect on user experience. These are all things can be easily corrected with proper design, and a new website makeover.
Did you know graphics make a big difference?
Website Makeover Fact: Heavy graphics work and images can slow down a website. If you’re dealing with a graphic design firm, you can ask them to resize your images and graphics to help your website to load faster. A simple change like that could instantly improve your user experience and have a positive effect on search engine rank results.
4. Your Website Does Not Perform Well Across Platforms
Another element you must consider is cross-platform compatibility.
If it's been awhile since you reconfigured your website, you may be unaware of current Google algorithms. In turn, you might not know the absolute importance of having a mobile friendly web design.
Website Makeover Fact: Google now puts a lot of emphasis on accelerated mobile pages and responsive design. If your site is neither responsive or features AMPs, you are losing potential customers, plain and simple.
The good news is that switching to responsive design is not complicated unless you are working with a bare bone HTML design. If your site runs on a CMS like WordPress or Joomla, making the switch might simply be a matter of switching themes. ?
5. Your Blog Is Absent Or Outdated
Blogging plays a major role in SEO, and is a great way to attract new leads. Blog articles are also a great way to engage your customers and retain them.
Website Makeover Fact: If your business does not have a blog, you’re missing out on one of the most powerful marketing tools!
Dedicate energy to two things:
- Updating the blog often - Monthly at the very least, but weekly is optimal
- Configuring the blog conducive to SEO
This is a major factor when choosing a design or a theme.
Website formatted in WordPress with on an old, discontinued theme, most likely will not be optimized and will cheat your brand content on the blog. Hence, it is important to stay current and use recent themes and quality website design.
A Website Makeover Conclusion
Good website design rewards your business and showcases your brand.
An outdated website can negatively affect traffic to your website - Perhaps more than you can even imagine.
Final Website Makeover Fact: It is important to stay informed about changes that affect your business online HQ, and make modifications swiftly to avoid being left behind and outranked by your competition.
