Signs That Your Website Needs a Refresh
When reviewing your own company’s website, do you really cast a critical eye on how it looks? Its functionality? Do you review the blogs you’ve published? When was the last time you refreshed the content or headlines? And what about replacing outdated keywords or photos?
These are just a few of the signs that it is time to refresh your website. Is your site running slowly? Are your links working properly? Have the Google algorithms been updated? What about your SEO?
The look and feel of an outdated website not only damages your traffic to sales conversions, but it also hurts your brand image, your rankings, and your reputation.
In today’s fast-paced, technology-forward consumer world, most companies or services are initially judged by the quality, content, and functionality of their websites. It continues to be the first place consumers go to check out what a company has to offer. It’s where you have the opportunity to create and project your brand’s identity by expertly engaging potential customers or clients with professionally crafted messaging.
In fact, according to a Shopping Tracker Study conducted by Google/Ipsos, “over 60% of all shoppers go online first” to explore company websites before they either visit the store or buy from an online website. And “95% of online shoppers read online reviews before purchasing. Having good reviews on a product increases its conversion rate by an average of 270%.”
If your site is outdated, not using current keywords, or if it just looks outdated and worn out, overly complicated, or simply not very attractive, your company is missing out on impacting a large part of your potential consumer base.
Here are some important reasons why you need to update your company website:
- To improve and update your search engine ranking through Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Search engines like Google are constantly changing their algorithms. One of the factors they consider when ranking websites is how fresh and up to date the content is. If you don’t update your website regularly, it will fall further down the search results, making it less likely that potential customers will find you.
- To keep your visitors engaged. Visitors are more likely to stay on your website if they find the content to be informative, interesting, and up to date. If your website is outdated or has stale content, people are more likely to click away and go to a competitor’s website.
- To promote your new products or services. If you’re launching a new product or service, it’s important to update your website to reflect that. This will help you to reach potential customers and generate interest in your new offerings.
- To build trust with your customers. A well-maintained website shows that you’re a professional and credible business. If your website is outdated or poorly designed, it can give customers the impression that you’re not serious about your business.
- To keep your content fresh. Headlines, content, blogs, all need to have a USP or Unique Selling Proposition and a Call to Action. Having professionally written content that is succinct, descriptive, and that grabs a user’s attention, is as important as how your site looks.
- To stay competitive. Your competitors are likely updating their websites regularly, so you need to do the same to keep up. If your website is outdated, you’ll be at a serious disadvantage.
Website Redesign Experts
In addition to these general reasons, there may be other specific reasons why you need to update your company website. For example, if you’ve recently changed your branding or your business model, you’ll need to update your website to reflect those changes. Or, if you’ve expanded into new markets, you’ll need to update your website to include targeted references about those markets.
No matter what the reason, it’s important to update your company website on a regular basis. This will help you to improve your search engine ranking, keep your visitors engaged, promote your new products or services, expand your consumer footprint, build trust and loyalty with your customers, and stay competitive.
So, what other things should you be looking at?
Just like color trends when choosing a paint color or accessories in your home, website design trends change regularly. It is important to do a design refresh at least every one or two years.
Website redesigns include a new front end and back end within the content management system. This improves how the website functions, and it also refreshes the ability for your website development team to manage your site.
In addition, it updates the look of your site, new colors, new photos, and of course, new headlines and content. The more visually appealing your site is, the longer people will stay on your site, allowing you more time to grab their attention and close a sale.
Updates also allow for your website to continue to be mobile-friendly. As cellphones change, so do their screen sizes and their digital capabilities. Ensuring that your website can also be clearly seen and utilized on all brands of cellphones is a must.
Modern UX Design
What other things should you consider? How fast your website loads its contents and photos is crucial when it comes to keeping your users happy and engaged. Loading speed also affects your Google rankings. If your website loading is too slow, users will click over to the next site. And it could be your competitors.
Delays in loading pages affect customer satisfaction and your bottom line. By monitoring the speed with which your pages load, your website development team can make the proper adjustments before you lose customers.
Another important issue is updating who you are online. Companies, small businesses, and service providers all change over time. Products can be discontinued, services can be improved or added to, and your target audience can change. Which means your branding must change as well.
By doing an annual review of your website, you can make sure that your company branding is right on the mark. Content can be updated to include or discontinue items for sale. New locations can be added. A change in personnel can be noted. And your online presence can be matched with your other advertising campaigns so that all your messaging is in sync and consistent across all media. No mixed or confusing messages.
Bounce rate is a number you need to know. If your users are quickly leaving your website or your conversion from views to sales is low, your development team needs to closely monitor the user’s behavior to figure out why they are not staying on your site.
Is the site too cumbersome to navigate? Too slow? Are there too many plug-ins? Are some pages non-responsive? Is the user experience or “UX” unsatisfactory?
These are just some of the questions your development team or internet marketing company can address.
And this is a great place to start when doing an annual review of your website. A simple tweak, a few added keywords, a review of your loading time could be all it takes to retain users. But without a review, nothing can change.
No matter what your business objectives are, your website should be consistently supporting them. New customers or clients. Sold out inventory. Public awareness of your brand. Repeat customers. An increase in sales.
All of these should be accomplished with your online presence. An evolving, updated, refreshed website can help drive more customers to purchase what you are selling.
By looking for the signs that your website needs to be updated, by analyzing your customer UX, and the resulting sales numbers, by making sure that your messaging is consistent, concise, and correct, you will be effectively using the Internet to increase your company’s visibility and its sales.
Modern SEO Website Design
At thirteen05 Creative, our web development team puts all the pieces of your website under scrutiny. We examine your code, ensure that your site is optimized for Google rankings, we check the front end and back end for any errors. And we make sure that your loading speed is as fast as possible.
Our content specialists review your headlines and copy, making sure that they are fresh and up to date. They add new and improved keywords for search engines to find. They do the research necessary to drive business to your doors. And they write the words that create a positive image of your company.
Our marketing team analyzes how your company represents itself online. Does it have a consistent call to action? Does it effectively market your identity to your target customers? Is it simple, direct, and to the point? Are the views converting to sales? Is it the crucial tool it is supposed to be in your daily interactions with potential customers and other stakeholders?
A website is more than just one company or product or service. It is the sum of all the internet marketing professionals who come together to build a visually attractive, expertly functioning online experience. It is the “personality” of the business, the quality of the product or services, and it is built to meet all the right requirements to be ranked at the top of the search engine lists.
If your website is not doing all of these things, it’s a sign that it’s time to refresh and update your site.
