Websites and other technologies have changed quite a bit in the last decade. Smartphones are now the norm; many customers now use mobile phones to access their favourite sites. For these reasons, a company website needs to stay responsive and functional for the digital age we live in.
How can you tell if it’s time to get a new website for your business? There are some signs to watch for, which indicate it’s time to change your site.
1) The Website Looks Outdated
If your website hasn’t been updated in the last few years, then it’s time to get this taken care of. Many things have changed with the way graphics and text are processed, with colour schemes, and more.
While your site may not be too bad, it could still be lagging behind newer websites that offer the functionality customers and site visitors now expect.
It’s also a good idea to take a look at your competitors’ websites. How does your site compare to theirs? Does your site seem lacklustre by comparison? Then it’s time to get a new website.
2) Security
Does your website offer SSL? Does a padlock appear in the browser URL? If not, then your site isn’t considered secure. That’s a bad thing these days, with all the data breaches and personal data stolen by hackers.
An SSL certificate is essential these days when everyone is more concerned about online privacy. Site users are savvy and look for websites that offer SSL. You want site visitors to feel confident their data will be safe. So, you’ll need to enable HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure). This provides encryption for network communications, which scrambles the data between your site and users. This keeps hackers from reading and accessing the data.
Enhancing site security will also help you rank higher in the search engines.
3) Confusing Site Navigation
Many websites provide a confusing number of navigation options. Their site architecture may also be confusing. When site users have to sit and figure out how to find what they need, they may become frustrated if the layout isn’t obvious. What happens if a user has problems on a site? They quickly leave.
To avoid this problem, the navigation on your website needs to be simple, clean, and intuitive. If it’s not, then it’s time for a new website.
4) Low Conversion Rates & High Bounce Rate
Another way to see if you need a new site is if your conversion rates are low. Do you also have a high bounce rate? Both of these are symptoms of a bad website.
Low conversion rates, combined with a high bounce rate, will show up in poor leads or conversions. The result is lower sales and revenue.
Poor conversion rates can be caused by some of the problems we’ve covered in the previous sections. If you have these issues, then it’s time for a new website.
5) Your Site is Mobile-Friendly or Responsive
Research has shown that most people are accessing websites from their mobile devices. Mobile devices include smartphones, tablets, and more. So, if your site is not mobile-friendly or responsive, you could be experiencing low conversion rates and/or high bounce rates.
What’s more, mobile-friendly, responsive sites will look just as good on a mobile device as they do on a desktop or a laptop. These sites also load faster and rank higher in the search engines.
If your site isn’t mobile-friendly and responsive, it’s time for a new site to accommodate your site users and customers.
6) Your Website Doesn’t Represent Your Brand
It can happen that as your business grows and evolves, your products and services have changed and expanded. When you look at your site today, does it reflect this growth and expansion? If not, then it’s time to get a new site.
You want site visitors to have an excellent first impression of your company. If they see a site that doesn’t match the brand, products, or services, then it feels “off.” They may have the feeling that your business isn’t to be trusted if your site doesn’t reflect your brand.
If you choose to go with a new website, make sure it reflects every aspect of your business. This means the message, the design, graphics, logos, everything must fully represent your company as it stands today. Make sure it reaches out to visitors and customers with the issues they’re facing today.
7) It’s Difficult to Update Content
If you’re finding it difficult to update your site and content, and you rely on a web developer to make changes for you, then it’s probably time to create a new website. The reason is that you’re paying a lot of money for things that could be done by you.
This is why it’s important to use a CMS (content management system) that’s easy to use. One example is WordPress. There are tons of videos, tutorials, and forums dedicated to helping you if there’s a problem. What’s more, you don’t have to know how to code to use a CMS such as WordPress. This could save you a lot of money in the long run.
8) Your Site Has Broken Elements
Here’s another big issue. If your site has a bunch of broken elements, site users will quickly see the site (and your business) as spammy. That’s a very bad impression to give site visitors and customers.
For this reason, it’s important to fix these issues right away. This can be done with a new website. However, it will take regular maintenance to ensure the site, and all of its elements continue to work as they should.
9) Lacks Basic On-Page SEO
Here’s another common problem. If you want to rank your website high in Google and other search engines, then it’s important for your website to use SEO. If the site’s not properly optimised, you won’t gain traffic, conversions, or revenue.
Each element on the page should be optimised and each page of the site needs to be optimised. Other elements that need SEO include meta descriptions; page URLs should use relevant keywords, internal links should be optimised and more.
After reading through this article, have you found your current website has some major problems? If so, then it’s better to start over with a new website. A new website will breathe a breath of fresh air into your online presence and make your business more relevant for today’s savvy site visitors & customers.