Technology changes very rapidly these days. That brand new iPhone or Samsung Galaxy you own right now? Just wait for a year or two and a better, faster, more advanced version will have already come out, and you’ll be looking at your already amazing piece of smartphone tech like it’s a sack of dirty gym socks.
So, shouldn’t it stand to reason that with new technology being developed at alarming rates, one of the oldest and most useful tech developments– the website — should keep up with these developments as well? Our vote is a resounding YES.
So what are the tell-tale signs that you should consider redesigning your website?
Mobile Responsiveness
Remember those smartphones I mentioned earlier? According to eMarketer, mobile traffic made up about 30% of all Internet activity in 2015, and according to Mediative, mobile data usage went up by 1,525% between 2010 and 2015. That’s a massive increase in only a few short years. Mobile responsive websites are so important these days that Google now ranks mobile-friendly sites higher than those that aren’t mobile-friendly. According to Google Research, 72% of consumers want mobile-friendly sites.
What does that mean? It means if you want your website to succeed in the modern Internet age, it needs to be optimized for mobile devices.
If you have questions about your current website, and whether it meets Google’s standards for mobile-friendliness, check out this easy-to-use test from Google.
Outdated Design
How’s your website looking these days? Does it look like it jumped straight out of the late ’90s Dot-com bubble? In other words, does it look like any of these cringe-inducing, eye-raking websites? If so, then it might be time for a massive website redesign (no, scratch that, it’s DEFINITELY time for a redesign).
When you design a website, you need to make it as easy to understand to the consumer as possible. That means when a visitor comes to your website, can they tell what your website or brand is about just from the design? If they can’t, then your website is failing at accomplishing even its most basic function. Make sure you’re using strong visuals and organizing the info in a way that’s easy to navigate.
Results Are Below Expectations
A beautifully designed, mobile responsive website is a great start to updating it, but what if it’s still not getting you the results that you want? You may have all the bells and whistles necessary to attract people, but if the data shows people aren’t interested in it, then it might be time to rethink things like content, navigation, call-to-action buttons and links, how text-heavy your site is, your branding, and more. Your conversion rates will give you a good understanding of whether your website is working.
Functionality
Nothing is worse than navigating to a website, and then being bombarded with ugly pop-up ads, broken links, videos that autoplay without a clear way to stop them, pages that scroll down forever, etc. Not only should your website look good, respond well, and give you the results you need, but it also needs to function easily.
If people become frustrated with your website trying to do simple tasks like finding your Contact page or how to add a product to their shopping cart, then you’re going to see a steep drop-off in your conversion rates and your profit. Make sure you’re designing a website that functions as intended, for everyone that comes to your site!
Designing, redesigning, and updating websites is no easy task, but if you want to grow your business in this ever-evolving tech-driven business world, you need to have a beautiful website. Don’t be afraid to start the process of updating your website; you’ll be glad you did!
