Redesign: When does your website need it?
Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.
~ Steve Jobs. Nature seeks change. A change that is permanent and perpetually a motion forward. In the realm of web designing, this principle is not only constant but very remarkable too. Websites have become an indispensable asset to corporate as well as the social sphere of functioning.Starting from organizational operation, business development, statistics management, finance, entrepreneurial ventures, talent acquisition (to mention a few) to the management of human resource in multitudinous activities of life cannot be thought of today without a website well suited for its specific need and purpose.
But change is the grand scheme of all needs, of all requirements, of all operation and activity, more so with time which is the very epitome of change. Hence the website that was once suited best fades its relevance as new demands of time, trend and technology emerge and evolve.
Website Redesign is not just a makeup like cosmetic luxury but verily a business necessity.
Below we have tried to pool together the reasons why you should consider redesigning your website.
Is your Website responsive?
With the trend of seeking flexibility of digital platforms, ‘mobile first’ sweeping market more and more the need to make your website responsive is turning wild! It is no longer good enough to design a website for a desktop or laptop computer, especially with millions of people accessing the Web on their smartphones, tablets, TVs, gaming, and music devices.
Google even made mobile-friendly one of their ranking factors in 2015!
Ask and Check yourself if you can easily view your website on all devices, from large desktops to smartphones. Do you see tiny texts? What is the graphics doing? Is it hindering the readability and functional experience?
Responsive web design can increase conversion anywhere from 20-100%.
52% of smartphone users say a bad mobile experience will make them less likely to engage with a company.
50% of consumers say that even if they like a business, they prefer buying from them less often, simply because their websites aren’t mobile friendly.
The lesson is very clear: Not only you struggle in acquiring potential and new customers, But also you could lose existing customers as well.
Is it hard to update your website?
When was the last time you updated your site? Why? Is it difficult to update? Have you thought why? Is it because you just don’t have the time or you don’t have the knowledge? Or is it cumbersome? Or you need overhauling of contents? This could be from simple installation of CMS where you can update yourself your contents to some plug extension inclusion which can enhance the functioning of your website. You just have to contact a web developer who can guide you better ways understanding your needs.
Is your website using features and functionalities that are Obsolete?
To ward off underperformance you must be cautious enough to note if the features and functionalities of your website are keeping pace with the website as it matures and grows with time. Web developers and designers are astute in this regard to suggest you ways to keep yourself on par with current and better technologies.
NEED for SPEED:
Speed is the rule. Space is the choice. A good website provides you both. There is an upsurge in the demand for websites to load faster and load less. This is due to the restrictions on the amount of data usage.
It would be a great disservice to them if we build websites that cost them more with the more unwanted loading of data.
An astonishing 40% of users will leave a website that takes longer than 3 seconds to load! A slow website will also affect your search engine rankings.
If you have an eCommerce site, roughly 18% of consumers will abandon their shopping cart because of the slow website.
And, whether your website is an eCommerce site or not, 46% of users will not return to a website that performs poorly.
Are visitors navigating past your Home Page?
Have you ever tried to know whether visitors are navigating deep into your site or just wading through by your homepage? If not try it using Google Analytics or another service that could give an insight into the visitor’s visiting activity. From this, you can get a hint whether to redesign or not so that you stand tall in today’s competitive edge and increase the bounce rate.
Is your Website slowly losing visitors over time?
Similar to finding out if visitors are navigating past your home page is to see whether there is a slowing trend in visitors coming to your site at all. Are you finding that visitors are not coming as often as they used to before? If so you should consider revamping either the content on your site or your entire site to allure more visitors to visit. The slow trend in visitors visit is often a good indicator that either your SEO is not working for you or your site is becoming stale.
When was the last time you overhauled your website?
Even pure water drinking water emits pungent odor once it is left as such. Freshly cooked food too stales in no time. The same with websites!!
It is suggested you change the look and feel of your website at least every 3 years and the features and functionalities at least every 5 years.
Do Search Engines even know you exist?
Is your website favorable for SEO likes Google, Yahoo, Bing and the like?
Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is strange and ever-changing in the world of search. If your business hasn’t been focusing on maintaining and developing SEO best practices, now is the time to redesign your website with SEO in mind.
Organic search generates over 50% of all website traffic.
Since 75% of people click links on the first page of search results.
60% of all organic clicks go to the top 3 organic results, it’s important to make sure you have an SEO strategy in place, and that your website design accommodates that strategy.
Contents of sites are constantly changing, being coded properly. While you can often help by keeping your site updated yourself, things like making sure the site is coded properly may need to be investigated by a web developer with SEO experience who can look to see if there are any coding elements that could be causing problems for you where it comes to search engine optimization.
Working with a better SEO can give a big boost to your business and enhances your web presence.
Are all parts of your website properly functioning?
Does your site have things that are broken or constantly giving you errors like the dreaded “404 not found” message?
If you have a plethora of broken links, error notifications, and missing images, then you should consider a complete website redesign that will include the installation and use of a CMS. If you have such here or there, then find time to fix those as soon as you can. It gives a bad impression and serves as bad taste to the one visiting your website.
Is the copyright year on the footer of your website ok?
Is the copyright statement in the footer of your website showing 2017? If NO, this is a good signal of needing a website redesign, especially if that year is an old or earlier one.
Is your website simply OBSOLETE?
Is your site older than 3-5 years? You should consider a redesign then. Web technologies are constantly changing and upgrading and in today’s connected world, you must stay abreast with the current standard.
75% of visitors judge a company’s credibility based on their website’s design. Visitors form an opinion about your website in 0.05 seconds. You need to incorporate better content strategy too.
“First impression last long”!!
Is your Website having Social Media presence?
Are you on social media? Are your accounts incorporated into your website?
When a website prominently displays social sharing buttons, social shares can increase up to 700%. This only means more brand recognition and potentially higher SERP’s. Since 78% of small businesses now get roughly 25% of new customers from social media, incorporating your social platforms into your website can only boost business!
Has your brand evolved since your website launched?
Has your brand gone a complete overhaul over the years? Does it reflect the current ‘YOU’ ?. Worse than outdated information on your website is an outdated persona. Please be sure You fix this very soon.
Feedback and Consultation:
Nothing is complete without feedback. No good work begins without consultation. Whether you need a redesign or not, it is better you consult a web developer who can suggest you the things you need but are unaware of it. It is better you take a web-check up now and then on a periodical basis, to keep the web health fine.
Web experts act like doctors. They heal your website. They make it shine.
