How To Know If Your Website Is In Need Of An Update

With most of the population online, many businesses have understood the importance of being online. That's good. The internet has held the attention of our population and businesses want to attract some of that attention, so of course, they hop online as well and create a website.

Websites are a great asset for businesses to have. It's where people go online when they want to find out more information about your business. But what most people don't know is that it's not just about having a website but having a good website.

Here's something to think about… when you get a cell phone after a while, what usually happens? Updates eventually come along to spice things up. It may be to fix a bug or to add a new feature, or maybe even to change the appearance on the screen. This happens to keep the consumer happy and to make their experience on the phone good.

Just like your phone, your website needs to be updated as well to keep users interested. Putting a website out there and leaving it can ultimately be one of the biggest mistakes your business can make. Here's how to know if your website is in need of an update.

Slow

If your website is slow to load this is your first indication that you need a major update. Consumer attention spans are incredibly short nowadays, so they are not going to sit there and wait for your website to load. Instead, they are going to exit out of it and most likely head over to a competitor's website.

Slow websites can often be caused by many different reasons.

• Unoptimized images and videos
• Too many ads
• Bad hosting provider

High Bounce Rate

Head over to your analytics and look at your bounce rate. Is it high? This is another indicator it might be time for a revamp.

A high bounce rate means people are coming to your website and leaving almost immediately. Users are not interacting on your website. If people aren't staying on your website long, then your website is not playing its part. A high bounce rate could indicate that your website is…

• Not clearly representing your business
• Slow loading
• Not mobile-friendly
• Not user-friendly
• Misleading in its title and meta description
• Badly designed

Navigation Is A Struggle

Is your website hard to get around? Can people find what they need on your website quickly and efficiently or do they have to dig to find information? Ask yourself these questions.

The design of your site's navigation is crucial to the overall success of your website. If people are struggling to find key information, they are going to leave as quickly as they came. And you don't want that.

Make sure your navigation is in a standard location. Check out some other websites to see where the common theme for the placement of the navigation bar is. It's usually in a hamburger menu in the top left corner of your website or it's displayed at the top horizontally. If it's somewhere else, it most likely is going to be difficult for the user to navigate through your website.

Another big thing is to make sure your navigation features the right components. What are people coming to your website for? What will they be looking for? This will vary for each business, but here are some questions to consider when laying it out.

• What does your business do?
• Who are you?
• Why should people work with/buy from you?
• How can someone get in touch with you?

One thing to keep in mind is to also not overload your navigation bar. Our best tip is to have no more than 5 or 6 items listed in your navigation, so the user's eye won't be overwhelmed.

Not Aesthetically Pleasing

What may have looked good on a website 3-5 years ago may not look good now. Let me rephrase that. What may have looked good on a website 3-5 years ago more than likely does not look good now. Design trends are always changing, so if your website isn't changing with it then that's a problem.

If your website is too wordy, the consumer will most likely become overwhelmed and leave. The brain processes words much slower than images and video. Try your best to level out your web design with copy and imagery as well as having some white space in there.

If your website is either too colorful (usually having more than 4 colors) or just black and white, it's probably going to be less visually appealing. Take advantage of your brand colors and implement them across your website in a unique fashion. Just be sure you don't use a dark color as the background of the page. This often brings stress to the eye as it works harder to read text. But if you're adamant about using a dark background, check out these tips at this link.

To quickly sum it up, here are the key components in the layout of a good website.

• Design & color
• Font consistency
• Useability & navigation
• White space
• Good alignment
• Keywords

Also, be sure to check out your competitors' websites. If they look better than yours, then you are in major need of an update.

Poor Lead Conversion

Is your website not generating the number of leads and conversions you'd like? It may be time for an update!

All the things previously discussed in this blog can contribute to poor lead conversions. However, if your website doesn't have many call-to-actions (CTAs) listed, this could ultimately be the reason for a decline in the conversion rate. CTAs are great for helping users navigate quickly to where they need to go without having to search all over to find it.

Remember, users are wanting to find the information they are looking for quickly.

Doesn't Reflect Your Brand Well

Your brand as a whole is always evolving, so the question here is if your website is evolving with it? Your website should always reflect your business in its current state. It should consistently display your brand voice and colors and speak directly to your audience.

Bottom Line

If you're claiming your business is the best then show it on your website. A business that doesn't put in the effort to proudly showcase themselves online will most likely deter people from wanting to work with/buy from you. Don't let this happen.

If you're ready to upgrade your website, we can design a modern, aesthetically pleasing website that will represent your brand in a better light. We'll also be there to continuously make edits as needed along the way. Speak with the experts today!