Everyone has their favourite decade. Whether your inner hippie wishes you could float back to the 70s or maybe you would rather spend your days surfing the U.S.A. with the Beach Boys during the 60s…every decade has its own flavour and unique style. When one decades comes to a close and another begins, that distinctive culture and fashion from the previous decade can quickly become a thing of the past. This same analogy can be applied to your website.
Like clothing, web design has its own sense of fashion and tastes that change as time goes on. Common reasons for change occurring in website fashion include advancements in technology, differing consumer tastes or even revolutions within your own industry. Wondering if your website has gone the way of the dodo bird? Here are the 5 telltale signs that your website is due for a facelift.
There’s a lot of factors that go into your website’s search engine ranking. To help simplify it, let’s break these down into minor influencers and major influencers. Minor influencers include things like linking back to your website or adding a blog. Big influencers, however, require extensive time and resources to develop and not only have a large impact, but its effect carries longevity as well. Examples of major influencers include having a responsive website, featuring keywords within your website’s content that users are searching for and even integrating an SSL certificate on your website to ensure that your visitor’s information is secure. If your search engine ranking begins falling and you’ve been taking care of the minor influencers, then your website may be in need of an overhaul.
When your website first launched, you probably enjoyed success for quite a while, but, over time, you may have noticed a gradual dip in your site’s performance. Maybe you’re not getting as many leads as you used to or there might be a dip in your number of site visitors. This usually goes hand in hand with the first sign as less people are viewing your website because a) your search engine ranking is dropping (see SEO Performance Decline) or b) your bounce rate is increasing because users aren’t liking what they see when they arrive at your website. Don’t have these metrics? Try implementing Google Analytics into your website. The system has helped countless brands keep track of their website’s traffic and has been a key indicator of a website’s overall performance.
An obvious sign that your website is in dire need of an update is if it’s not mobile friendly. To compare, it’s like driving a 90s rust bucket in 2018, it’ll just stand out for all the wrong reasons and sinking time and money into the current model is the equivalent of flushing your marketing budget down the drain. Responsive websites do exactly what the title says – they respond to whatever size browser or device you’re viewing the website on. Allowing users to easily find what they are looking for. Need more convincing? Google no longer ranks websites that aren’t mobile friendly. That means no one will be able to find you if they search for your products!
Confused and frustrated whenever you want to change the smallest of things on your website? It’s an obvious sign for a redesign! Updating your website should be an extremely simple process that even the most tech illiterate can do. Your system should also allow you to add, edit or delete content or pages whenever needed and from wherever you are.
Old websites have a harder time integrating with newer software because of compatibility issues. This can lead to your content turning stale and your online sales funnel becoming ineffective. Think about it this way…when the original iPhone came out it set the bar on what was possible, and people paid through the nose for it. However, try using that same iPhone today and you’ll quickly find that it’s nearly impossible. And why? Because technology has advanced so much between 2007 and now. Now take that same premise and apply it to your website. How can you expect a website built 10 or even 5 years ago to operate and perform to the same level that it did when it first launched?
Websites are the heart of any digital marketing strategy and the stats don’t lie as more and more people are looking for online solutions to fulfil their everyday needs. From ordering dinner to buying groceries to building a car. However, you don’t have to be Amazon to realize that having a top-notch website can do wonders for your business and its bottom line. Did any of these telltale signs strike a chord with you? Get in touch today and we’ll help bring your website into the next decade!