In an increasingly-connected world, a website is your most powerful marketing tool—until it isn’t.
No matter how great a website seems on all aspects upon its launch, the time will come when it will need an update, particularly on the web design side of things.
After all, technologies and web design practices develop and improve, and the competition becomes stiffer. Your website must keep up with the times, or your business will end up falling behind your competitors.
So, how do you know when your website is due for a web design update?
1. It’s Not Mobile-friendly
Mobile accounts for approximately half of global web traffic. That’s how mobile the world has become in the last few years.
If your website does not render well on smartphones and tablets, you are in danger of missing out on business from mobile users.
Mobile users are not likely to stay on your website if they have to pinch, zoom, or scroll sideways on their screens to read your content.
If you want your website to be mobile-friendly, start integrating responsive web design or RWD to it right away. With RWD, your site will adjust to any screen size and provide users an optimal browsing experience.
2. Its Pages Load Slowly
As far as today’s Internet users are concerned, web pages are expected to fully load in three seconds or less. Any slower, and they will just close your page and bounce off to a faster-loading website.
There are several reasons why a page takes a long time to load, and its current web design could be one of them. Unoptimized images, bulky code, and heavy use of graphics, and custom fonts, among other things, can slow a website down.
A website redesign can address all that and make your pages load faster.
3. Your Company Has Gone Through Rebranding
When your website was launched, everything about its design was presumably in tune with your brand identity.
However, if your company decides to go through a rebranding, the likelihood that your web design won’t match with its new colors, themes, and brand identity is high.
Considering how strong branding plays a crucial role in keeping your company foremost in customers' minds, you must redesign your website to make it consistent with your new brand.
4. You Rely On A Web Developer To Edit Content
Your website must be quite old if you have to call in your web developer whenever you want to edit or upload content.
Today, most, if not all, websites have a content management system (CMS) to allow even non-coders to make changes to the website whenever necessary.
Redesign your website now with a CMS in place, and you can stop paying someone else to take care of your web content.
5. The Web Design Looks Outdated
Websites created a decade ago look different from ones designed in 2020, and the differences tend to be glaring, even embarrassing.
If your website was created in 2010 and you haven’t updated its design since, it likely has flashing graphics and text. The text may also come in a variety of fonts, and the color scheme is loud at best.
Updating your web design now will make your website up to date with current website standards and trends.
6. Poor Navigation
Visitors to your website need to know where they are, where they have been, and where they’re supposed to go. When your site has poor navigation, your visitors won’t be visitors for long. They won’t waste any more of their time trying to figure out how to go from one page to another without getting lost.
To spare your visitors the confusion and frustration and your business the usual increase in bounce rates, you should redesign your website and fix its navigation design to make it easier to explore.
7. It Needs New Functionalities
Your website may be fine as it is, but there may come a time when you have to incorporate more and newer tools to help with your business goals.
When you have to add functionalities that help streamline the checkout process for your eCommerce website, or make your search engine optimization, social media, and digital marketing campaigns more robust, a website redesign may be in order.
8. It Has Low Conversion Rates
When your website has healthy traffic but low conversion rates, it’s possible that its current web design is missing a few key elements that help with conversion.
The calls-to-action (CTAs) may not be clear and visible enough. It’s also possible that the lack or absence of testimonials from your customers is not convincing them to try your products or services. Your landing page content may also not be that impressive and effective.
With a website redesign, your conversion rate situation will likely improve.
If you find that any or all of the signs mentioned above are present on your website, call your web designer right away to make the necessary improvements. With updated web design, your website will look and function in a manner that will help take your business to the next level.
About the Author
Shawn Byrne is the founder and CEO of My Biz Niche, an Arizona-based digital marketing and web design company that has achieved superior results for their clients. Before My Biz Niche, Shawn worked for Venture Capitalists where he built a private portfolio of e-commerce and informational websites that generate revenue through various digital marketing strategies.