Technology and fashion changes very quickly, so it’s only to be expected that your website will eventually need a refresh in its look, or a total start from scratch in terms of the technology it uses, or what functionality it can offer. That’s okay – there’s nothing wrong in doing this at all, and also don’t feel awkward asking your current website designer to do this for you. Just because the site needs a refresh, doesn’t mean you necessarily need to find someone else to do it for you.
What are the signs that you need a new website though?
1. It looks out of date
This will be the most common reason to get a new website. Only a couple of years ago we were designing websites in a very different manner to how we are now – today it’s all about large imagery, plenty of white space, flowing pages and of course, responsiveness. If you have a website that is an online shop, you may want to consider updating the look and feel more frequently, to inspire trust in your brand. This is also something to consider for any business, if the website is out of date, what’s happening on the inside?
2. You’re can’t update it
These days it’s really simple to get a website developed for you that will enable you access to the content, pictures, structure of pages etc. This style of website runs off a CMS – a content managed system. We love to use WordPress as our solution, but there are others available. Roughly 5 years ago there was a surge in requests from clients who wanted to be able to login to their website and change information – at the time we were already offering this as standard, but many other developers weren’t.
3. It isn’t mobile responsive
Another fairly “new” advance in the technology is having websites that are mobile and tablet responsive. In fact, Google have really pushed this by giving priority to mobile friendly sites on any searches carried out on a mobile phone too, so it’s super important to have. It’s an expectation now from visitors of your website that it’s responsive, and no one wants to pinch and drag across your site to access it’s information.
4. Your competition has better websites
How often do you actually consider what your competition is up too? It’s not recommended by us that you start watching their every move, but it’s good to appraise yourself every few months to see what they’re doing. If all of your competition has fabulous new websites, then perhaps it’s time to consider an update yourself.
5. Your brand has updated but your website hasn’t
It’s very easy for your business to evolve as time moves on – you might find you naturally start leaning towards a particular service or style and so your business model changes. If you don’t think about the website when this happens, it can quickly represent something that is no longer your brand or business. This might mean people are looking for services you no longer offer, and could become frustrated with your business.
6. Your content is very outdated
Content and design go hand in hand to creating a stunning website – you can have a fab design, but if the content sucks then you’ll still find it difficult converting visitors. If you haven’t updated your content in a long while, a website redesign is the perfect chance to do so! We’d even recommend asking someone to
7. Your website doesn’t rank well on search engines anymore
Google and other search engines change their algorithms very often, so if your website was built for old SEO tactics and algorithms, it’ll likely begin to suffer on the search engines. This is also why using a CMS is great, because you can work on your content when new updates happen.
Some other considerations
When getting a new site designed, make sure you also bear in mind:
- Website loading speed
- Usability for visitors
- Website & hosting security
- Visual appeal