Your website is the center of your brand's identity and one of the first places people who are interested in your business will go to learn more about it. It's important to make sure it's always working hard for you. After all, you've put a lot of time and money into making it what it is. An old, out-of-date website can hurt not only your rankings, traffic, and conversions, but also your reputation, brand image, and the confidence your potential customers have in your business. There could be more than one reason why an update can't wait any longer. Find out the 6 common signs that could help you determine whether it's time for your website to be refreshed too.
By Team Savant
You Can’t Remember When The Last Update Happened
How long has it been since your website was last refreshed and updated? Do you know? If not, that's a sure sign that it needs to be done now. Even if you do know, and it was quite some time ago, it is still certainly at least worth considering. In the future, when you make changes and updates, keep a record of it, and try to schedule changes at least every three to six months if possible.
If you haven't changed anything on your website in a while, it's likely that it looks old. More than likely, you'll have some broken links and some pages with missing or old information or perhaps pages that you don't even actually need anymore. And you'll almost certainly have to deal with plugins and themes that are out of date.
You can always catch up, so get your website up to date and keep it that way. Make sure you're aware of what's happening in technology and, ideally, that you have an in-house team or an expert IT support company that can keep your site fresh and up to date.
Your Website Doesn’t Look Right On A Small Screen
Does your website, which may look OK on a larger screen, become illegible when viewed on a mobile device? Your website definitely needs a makeover if the design doesn't work when seen on a mobile phone or if the site becomes utterly unusable when accessed on a small screen.
Ninety percent or more of the world's population now uses their mobile phones to access the internet. Users won't bother visiting your site as often if it doesn't adapt to their preferred devices. If you are a business providing a product or service online, you could be losing countless dollars in sales every year because your site is not mobile-friendly.
Fortunately, most website builders these days provide mobile-friendly options, so a complete overhaul isn't necessary. However, you may need to hire a professional web designer to create a truly unique site with mobile-friendly features if you want to stand out from the crowd.
You Have An Old Looking Design
As a result of the rapid pace at which trends shift, very few website layouts stand the test of time. If a website appears dated, the user may lose trust in it. Websites that look and feel outdated can make potential customers nervous. Also, if your website's aesthetic has started to decline, a redesign is likely overdue. The aesthetic appearance of your website is crucial in enticing visitors to explore more and engage with your content.
Don't give the impression to your audience that you're out of touch. Think about the sites you like to visit and compare them to your current one. Does it look outdated compared to these fresh ones? What seems to be the current trend when it comes to website styles? Although it's not always wise to follow fashion because it changes so often, changing a website to match is also a simple thing to do (especially if you have help), so in this case, it's worth doing.
Your Website Is Not Secure
No one wants to be an attack target. The problem is many small businesses are under the impression that hackers don't really care about them because they are small. In reality, your site could be attacked just because it is part of a web app and uses out-of-date plugins.
Hackers look for opportunities. So even if your business is small or not very well known, a big target can still be on it. When it comes to website security, your site is only as safe as its least secure part. If a hacker can get into your system because of an old theme or plugin, they can get into your whole system. Because of this, it's important to keep all parts of your website up to date so that you don't give criminal people on the internet a way into your system.
Your Website Is Slow
Is your website taking an eternity to load? If so, you might want to consider a redesign. Keep in mind that you have only a few seconds to grab the attention of your audience. Online users are notoriously impatient, so if your website takes too long to load, you can expect to see a significant drop in traffic. From a user's perspective, patience wears thin after 4 to 10 seconds, and if they can't find what they're looking for on your website, they'll go elsewhere.
Slow page loads are a leading cause of cart abandonment, so prioritising their improvement should be a top priority. To begin, you can modify the dimensions of your images, update your plugins, and take out any flashy visuals. Have your website checked out if it still takes too long to load, as experts might be able to help you in ways you didn't know about.
You’ve Changed Your Branding
If your brand has changed in any way, your website needs to be updated as soon as possible. If you don't, your brand won't be consistent, and the people you want to reach will be confused. The same is true for your message or your niche: if something has changed, it must be acknowledged on your website. That could be anything, like a new logo or color scheme, pictures, or text.