If you’re even considering a website redesign, then it's likely that you already need one. But how do you know for sure? Well, that’s the tricky part. There is no one key metric or benchmark you can use to decide if your website needs a refresh. But there are several factors taken together can give you an excellent estimation of whether or not you do. We’ve broken them down here to help you determine whether it’s time for your business to invest in a website redesign.
Your Website Isn’t Mobile Friendly
This is the first sign that it’s time for a website redesign. And quite frankly, it’s non-negotiable. A responsive or “mobile-friendly” website is exactly what sounds like. The website “responds” to the size of the screen it’s viewed on.
It uses that information to adjust the layout to best fit that screen. This means no matter what device a user looks at your website on –a phone, tablet, or desktop? It must look great.
We call websites that are responsive, mobile friendly. But being responsive isn’t enough, your website also needs to be optimized to load fast on mobile. This is just as important as the layout in providing a great user experience. If your website doesn’t load fast, users will leave.
You might think that while your website isn’t responsive, it looks good enough on a desktop. Or maybe it just isn’t old enough to justify a refresh. It doesn’t matter. Even if the website doesn’t look too dated, if it isn’t responsive it needs to be. This one factor alone is enough to base the entire decision of whether or not to redesign your website. Why’s that?
It’s just based on how people are browsing the internet today. Believe it or not, over 60% of all web browsing is done on mobile devices. Think of it this way: if your business website is flat out unusable to two-thirds of your visitors, is that acceptable? The answer is of course not. And consumers agree. In fact, they are quite harsh in businesses that doesn't have a mobile friendly website. Just check out some of these stats:
- 88% of online consumers are less likely to return to a site after a bad experience
- 85% of people think that a company’s mobile website should be as good or better than their desktop website.
- 57% of users say they won’t recommend a business with a poorly designed mobile site
- 53% of mobile website visits are abandoned if a mobile site takes longer than three seconds to load. For every one second delay in site load time, conversions fall by 12% (Google, 2018)
Clearly, consumers place a heavy emphasis on your business website –especially the mobile version. But they’re not the only ones. So does Google. We’ll get into how exactly this matters for your website, but know for now that it severely impacts your search rankings. But as long as your business website is responsive and loads fast, you have nothing to worry about.
Your Competitors Have Already Invested in a Website Redesign
Websites can’t be built in a vacuum. The mark of a great website is one that takes into account the status of your industry and your competitors. And if your competitors have already invested in a website redesign, then you should follow suit.
Today's consumers shop around. When they shop online, they are going to compare your business's offerings to that of your competitors. And if their websites’ make a bold first impression while yours looks dated in comparison, you’re going to lose out on potential customers. It’s not just about having a sleek looking website.
Today’s websites can now support tools that can help you generate leads. If similar businesses in your area have a great website that leverages the latest digital marketing tactics, you’re at a distinct disadvantage. And that’s completely unnecessary. Especially as modern web building platforms like WordPress make small business owners live. Or the fact that hiring a freelancer to do your website redesign has never been more feasible.
Conversions and Leads Are Down
This is the number one KPI (Key Performance Indicator) of your website. The whole reason why you invest time and money into making a great website for your business is to bring in more business. So it goes to follow that if your website isn’t performing in this area, it’s seriously time to start considering a website redesign.
This is even truer if you’ve already tried things like content marketing or conversion rate optimization with no success.
If you were able to generate increased traffic to your site through marketing, but that didn’t provide increased leads, it’s clear what part of your sales funnel needs to be addressed. The time has come to tear the house down and rebuild.
A website is your ultimate lead generation tool. You want it to be at the center of all your digital marketing tactics. It’s a place where you should be driving all of your potential leads to. Why? Because your website is a place dedicated to your business. You don’t have to compete for attention, unlike every other marketing channel. Creating a website that generates leads is half art and half science.
Your website needs to look great to impress people so they will stay and learn about your business. But it also needs to take into account many factors about your business to funnel the right groups of your audience to the right pages. From there, the goal is to get them to convert and become a leader. If your website isn’t doing this, the time has come for a website redesign.
You Have No Way To Manage or Edit The Website
The business landscape has never been more fluid than it is today. Your industry is always changing, and so should your website. In order to provide a great user experience, your website needs to be relevant and provide helpful content. The only way you're going to be able to do that is if you have direct access to it. This way, you can keep your website fresh with new copy, blogs, videos, and images. No matter your strategy or the macro-business environment, you can leverage your website.
Websites in the past were built using files that only a web developer could access. But today, modern websites are built using a Content Management System, like WordPress. This speeds up the development process and if you have the tech knowledge and the ability to make these types of edits.
Without the ability to edit your website, you're like a boat without a rudder. You will be unable to change with the rest of your industry. Having the control and ease of use that a CMS like WordPress provides saves you money in both the short and long term. It speeds up the development process and makes it possible for you to bypass hiring a freelancer again. WordPress makes a website redesign a no brainer.
Your Rankings on Google Could Use Some Work
It’s sad but true. The content on your website can only take you so far. We view a great website as the foundation of your SEO strategy. That’s because Google is no longer just ranking your website based on its content. It now takes into account the quality of your website and user experience it provides.
Here are just a few of the ways Google evaluates your website to determine how you will show up on its rankings:
- Mobile first indexing: Google now weighs the quality of your mobile website more than the desktop version. It makes sense, a majority of Google searches are done on mobile devices.
- Mobile usability: Google Search Console can now detect mobile usability issues on your website (ex. Small buttons) and downgrade your website.
- Page load speed: Google now uses the speed of your website to determine where you rank. This is especially true for mobile.
Even if you are putting out an A+ SEO optimized content, it’s going to be really hard to rank high on Google if you have the above going against you. By making the investment in a website redesign, you can rebuild your website on a modern platform that is built for this digital landscape.
