A website redesign isn’t always something that a business or organisation wants to do, but often is a matter of necessity. Believe it or not, your customers decide whether they trust your company within 15 seconds of visiting your website.
If your company has an old and outdated website, the site is slow or not optimised for mobile, some people will question whether they want to do business with you.
Staying up-to-date with technology
So, how often should you redesign your website? This depends on a number of different factors. Ideally, you should do a full redesign of your website every two years to stay up-to-date.
This comes from a perspective that waiting any longer could mean your competitors getting a leg up on web design features you don’t have. With web technology changing on a constant basis and new web design techniques being implemented seemingly every month, you may have to redesign even sooner to keep your site looking fresh.
However, if your website is not performing in terms of traffic and conversions (sales, bookings, enquiries, etc.) it is time to re-evaluate and make some updates in order to capture your user’s attention and turn them into customers.
Reasons your may need to redesign your website
- The need to solve a problem.
For some organisations, that may be a decline in business or a drop in visibility in search results. For others, it may be a more dramatic event like a website being hacked or not working properly.
- Poor user-experience.
When your audience views your site, you want them to easily move about your pages to find what they are looking for. You don’t want them to struggle to find the necessary information they need and have a hard time making a purchase or an enquiry.
Using tools such as Google Analytics or Hotjar, you can check to see how customers are reacting to the current design you have. Are they leaving in a hurry and creating tremendous bounce rates on your site? Do those visitors visit the important pages you want them to see? This lack of conversion of visitors into paying customers is probably due to your layout not being compelling enough to entice anyone to stick around.
- Cosmetic – your site’s look and feel.
Investing in the look of your website is like renovating your home before putting it up for sale. If the bathroom or kitchen hasn’t seen fresh paint or new fixtures in a few decades, they are likely to steer buyers away. In the same way, if a site looks super outdated, it’s likely to steer prospective buyers away from it. It also gives a poor impression of your business.
- Your website is not optimised for mobile.
In this day and age, mobile-friendliness is crucial. Users are constantly conducting searches on their smartphones and tablets. Statistics have shown that more than 60% of searches are done using mobile devices. If you want to attract users to your website and remain on it, we would highly recommend investing in responsive design and making sure your website is built to display quickly and correctly to mobile users.
- Your site is too slow.
More than ever people want things instantly – this means users hate to wait for slow-loading pages. They want to access information quickly and easily. If your page takes too long to load, your leads may wind up on your competitor’s site instead of yours.
From coding to the visual elements, there are different aspects of your site that can cause it to slow down. A website redesign can give you that fresh start your website needs to run faster, using the latest and coolest technologies that render lightning fast websites.
Keen to do a quick site speed test? Try out PageSpeed Insights and GT Metrix.
So, what’s the verdict?
Your website is meant to bring you business, whether that be online sales, booking confirmations, enquiries, etc. It is also meant to create a sense of credibility and professionalism for your business. If your website is not doing this, it’s time to determine why and make necessary changes. Many businesses (ours included) redesign their websites regularly, not only to stay up-to-date by adding new features and content, but also to stay ahead of the competition.
The web is constantly evolving and adapting, and if you’re not moving to adjust with it, you’re bound to be left behind. Your website is a living story about your brand. It’s essential to make sure it’s telling the right one.
