11 REASON ASSESSMENT
Does your website loose?
It's time to improve
A poorly designed and outdated website that lacks clear structure and functionality can be very harmful for your business. Why? Because there is no second chance for a first impression, and therefore your website should promote – and not demote – your business right from the start.
Always bear in mind that your competitor’s website is only a few clicks away and if your website fails to ‘hook’, it is more than likely that your page visitor becomes your competitor’s customer, leaving you empty handed. This is what neither you, nor we, want.
If you are concerned or questioning whether it is time for a redesigned and improved website for your business, we’re here to help.
For you, we have compiled a list of 11 critical reasons why you should consider an immediate “facelift” for your website.
1. Your website looks and feels outdated
If you don’t find your website nice to look at, then neither does anyone else! You need a website that is engaging, pleasing to the eye and puts your business forward. Remember, your website is your prospects’ first impression! And just like cars and kitchen appliance styles change over time, so do websites. Is your company’s website looking out of style? Modern website design favours clean and simple over cluttered and busy. In a split second, your website either conveys that you are with the times, or you are behind the times.
2. Your website looks like an amateur designed it
Does your website design reflect the quality of your business or does it look like it was designed by an amateur? Going with the cheapest proposal may save you money in the short term, but it won’t give you the quality and results that your company needs from the website.
Also, many companies utilise the technical skills of their internal IT department to build their website but most likely they don’t have the eye for design or the creative skills that are needed. Developing and designing are two different specialties and quality in both are critical for building a winning website.
3. Your website uses a pre-designed template or theme
Using a website template can be tempting, especially if you have limited budgets or resources, however, free or cheap templates (all templates in general) should be avoided if you actually care about your website. There are many reasons why not to use a template for your website, including generic design, content limitations, licensing restrictions, bloated code, poor SEO and bad functionality. Perhaps the most important reason is a lack of uniqueness. You’re company isn’t the only one using that template you downloaded. Chances are there are hundreds or thousands of others using the same template. Website templates are just too generic and have significantly less value then a custom-made design tailored specifically to your audience, content needs and business goals.
4. Your website is difficult to navigate
Are your visitors able to find what they need in two clicks or less? Is your navigation-menu simple and straightforward or is it confusing? As the web has evolved, so have people’s expectations for user experience and functionality. Web users today demand a pleasant, efficient experience. If your menu and navigation are based on last decade’s best practices, you’re losing web traffic – meaning, your business is not generating its potential revenue.
5. Your website takes a long time to load
If your content and images take too long to load, many people have left your site already. Web users do not have patience for slow-loading websites and neither do search engines. Google now includes load time in its search engine rankings. This means not only are people frustrated with your website, but it is also not ranking high on the search engines. According to Google, only fast websites create satisfied users and research has shown that a slowly responding website scares visitors away, leaving them searching for alternatives (which might be your competitor).
6. Your website analytics and search rankings are abysmal
Website analytics are a great way to benchmark the effectiveness of your website, but it isn’t just page views and visitors with which you should be concerned. Does your website have a high bounce-rate (very short visits without any outcome)? Is the visitor’s average time on site extremely short? Do you have a low average page? These can all be important indicators that your website and content are not working.
What about your search rankings? Does your site rank well for the keywords people are using to find the services and/or products your company provides? If not, chances are your website has not been properly optimised for search or uses old-school SEO black-hat tricks that no longer work (and will get your website penalised).
7. Your website is not content managed
The days of static websites are long gone. We’ve already discussed the importance of having fresh, compelling content, and most websites are now built with a Content Management System (CMS) that allows you to easily add, edit and update web content ( new products or information about your services, for example) or even schedule the updates in advance. Static websites leave many companies with their hands tied if they don’t have someone in-house who knows how to code properly.
If you are frustrated with the confusing code, or having to wait for your web developer to get to your updates, then you definitely need a new CMS website.
8. Your website is not mobile-friendly
Mobile devices (smartphones and tablets) are becoming the primary Internet viewing devices for the majority of people. With people spending more and more time on their mobile devices, it is vital that your website is mobile-friendly (responsive website design). According to Google (Source: Google Internal Data, Global, Sep 2018), nearly 75% of users prefer a fully mobile-friendly site when they browse on their devices. Further, 50% of people said that even if they like a certain business, they will use them less often if the website is not mobile-friendly! If your website doesn’t work well on mobile devices, then you could be missing out on a huge opportunity for business. Here’s more information about responsive website design for you.
9. Your website relies too heavily on Flash
There was a time when entire websites were built using Flash, or when almost every website had a Flash intro or slideshow, but those days have quietly ended. Flash sites are slow to load (remember reason 5), are bad for SEO (remember reason 6), are limited on mobile phones (remember reason 8) and aren’t even viewable on iPhone and iPads. Also, they typical have poor usability standards and can be difficult or confusing to navigate (remember reason 4). The fact is, Adobe, the company that makes Flash doesn’t even use Flash on their website, possibly because of these limitations. Are you unsure if your website uses Flash? Just contact us and we’ll find out for you.
10. Your website doesn’t incorporate calls to action
Your website serves a purpose to attract prospects and drive business. An effective call to action (CTA) results in more leads and conversions for your website. A call to action is when you ask a website visitor to perform some specific action. That specific action might be to make a request for more information or a quotation, subscribe to your newsletter, download your product brochure , register for an event or make a purchase. Whatever action you want your visitors to take, you need to make it specifically clear on your website using graphics, buttons, banners or links. Almost every page of your website should have a clear call to action.
11. Your website does not represent your company anymore
Has your company grown and evolved over the past few years? Have you added new services, products or employees? If so, most likely your website doesn’t accurately represent your company anymore. Your website should be parallel with what you are telling your clients. If it doesn’t match, then it is time for a redesign.
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What is your conclusion?
If you think that your website is lacking performance and needs to be improved, please have a look at our solutions or get in touch with us today.
