The importance of website design cannot be overstated. A well-designed website is crucial when it comes to establishing a strong online presence, effectively engaging with audiences and displaying what your business is all about.
So, if your site is falling behind the times, failing to attract visitors and struggling to generate conversions, then it may be time for a redesign! We’ve put together a list of the top 7 signs that’ll help determine whether it’s time to invest in a new site.
Your site isn’t mobile-friendly or responsive
This point is essential, and deserves to be at the top of the list!
With the majority of traffic nowadays coming from a mobile device, it’s more important than ever to deliver an excellent mobile experience for your customers.
Although this list is in no particular order, the first step is to determine whether you have a standalone mobile site or a site that isn’t using a responsive design. If you have either of these, then it’ll be beneficial to design and build a new site from scratch, allowing your designer to use a mobile-first approach from the get-go to deliver the right user experience to the right screen.
If your website isn’t optimised for mobile, and more importantly to Google’s standards, you’re at risk of missing out on potential customers!
Your site has a high bounce rate
Google’s definition of a ‘bounce’ is ‘a single-page session on your site’, meaning someone has landed on a page and then left without exploring other pages or converting. This can happen for several reasons, such as:
- The page takes ages to load
- Users can’t find what they’re looking for or aren’t sure what you’d like them to do next
- Your site is cluttered, or confusing to navigate resulting in a bad user experience
- It contains irrelevant or poor content
- Or that it simply looks horrendous
These aren’t the only reasons, but they’re the most obvious ones. To reduce your bounce rate, you should look into the following:
- Optimise your page speed and ensure your site is as fast as possible
- Make your content more accessible
- Include clear call-to-actions
- Optimise your site for mobile
- Ensure you have an easy-to-follow navigation
Your page speed is too slow
Page speed is important for several reasons:
- It can impact user experience
A fast-loading website provides a better user experience. Users today have high expectations when it comes to website performance, and they expect pages to load quickly. If a website takes too long to load, users are likely to become frustrated and abandon the site- leading to a higher bounce rate.
On the other hand, a fast-loading website enhances user satisfaction, encourages longer visits and increases the likelihood of conversions.
- It can impact search engine rankings
Faster loading pages are more likely to be crawled and indexed more frequently, and are therefore more likely to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPS). It’s especially important since search engines like Google use page speed as a ranking factor.
Google has emphasised the importance of page speed, and has even introduced the "Core Web Vitals" as key metrics for evaluating page experience.
Improving page speed can positively impact organic search visibility and attract more organic traffic.
- Mobile Optimisation
With the increasing use of mobile devices, page speed has become even more important.
Mobile networks can be slower and less reliable than desktop connections, making it crucial for websites to load quickly on mobile devices.
Nowadays, users have less patience for slow-loading pages and they are more likely to leave a site that doesn't perform well on their device. Optimising page speed for mobile users can help retain visitors, reduce bounce rates and improve the overall mobile user experience.
- It can impact conversions and revenue
A slow-loading website can lead to higher bounce rates and lower conversion rates. Users are more likely to abandon a purchase if a website takes too long to load. Whereas a fast and responsive website can improve conversion rates, increase customer engagement and positively impact revenue.
- It’s a competitive advantage
In today's competitive world, having a fast-loading website can give you one-up over your competitors. If your website is faster and more responsive than your competitors, users are more likely to choose yours over theirs. A fast website demonstrates professionalism, reliability and a commitment to user experience- which can help build trust and credibility with your audience.
Overall, page speed is crucial for delivering an excellent user experience, improving search engine rankings, maximizing conversions and staying ahead of the competition.
Your site isn’t designed in a UX, User-friendly flow
It’s important to design a site with a user-friendly flow in mind to improve usability, increase conversion rates, reduce bounce rates, gain a competitive advantage and deliver a seamless experience across all devices.
By putting the needs and behaviors of your users first, you will create a website that is intuitive, engaging and effective in achieving your business goals.
Your site doesn’t reflect your brand
Your website is a crucial component of your brand's online presence. Aligning your website with your brand identity helps create consistency, provide a positive user experience, build trust, differentiates you from competitors and supports your marketing and branding efforts.
Your site looks outdated
There are a number of reasons why you should redesign an outdated website:
- To improve user experience An outdated site may lack modern design elements that lead to a poor user experience. Starting from scratch allows you to enhance usability, simplify navigation and incorporate user-friendly features that align with current design standards.
- Your branding has been updated
If your site doesn’t reflect your branding, it can create confusion and inconsistency for users. A redesign gives you the opportunity to align it with your brand's current visual identity, and ensure a consistent brand experience across all platforms.
- Technology advancements
Web design and development technologies are constantly evolving. An outdated website may not use the latest frameworks, coding languages or responsive design techniques. - SEO
Search engine optimisation is vital for driving organic traffic to your website. Older sites might not adhere to current SEO best practices. A redesign gives you the opportunity to implement SEO-friendly elements and improve your site's visibility in search engine results- potentially attracting more relevant traffic and increasing your online visibility. - Competitor Analysis:
Your competitors' websites are continuously evolving, and if their sites are more modern, user-friendly and visually appealing than yours, it can put you at a disadvantage. Redesigning your outdated site allows you to analyse and learn from your competitors, identify areas for improvement and ensure that your site remains competitive in the market. - Content Updates
An outdated site might have irrelevant content that no longer resonates with your target audience. A redesign gives you the opportunity to review and update your content strategy, ensuring that it aligns with your current business goals and user needs. Fresh and relevant content can improve engagement, encourage repeat visits and contribute to your overall marketing efforts.
It isn’t delivering the traffic, leads or conversions that you’re hoping for
There will be a number of reasons why your site may not be delivering the desired traffic, leads or conversions, such as:
- Poor Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
Poor SEO practices can result in low visibility in search engine rankings, making it difficult for potential visitors to find your website - Weak or irrelevant content
If the content is not engaging, informative or relevant to your audience, it may fail to capture their interest and lead to low traffic and conversions. - Usability and User Experience Issues
A site that is difficult to navigate, has slow loading times or lacks clear calls-to-action can deter visitors from engaging with your content or taking desired actions. - Weak conversion funnel
Evaluate your site's conversion funnel to identify potential barriers preventing users from becoming leads or customers. Optimise your calls-to-action, landing pages, forms and checkout process to streamline the conversion journey and remove any friction points. - Insufficient marketing efforts
Assess your marketing strategies, including social media, email marketing, content marketing and advertising, as your site may not be receiving adequate promotion or visibility. - Lack of trust and credibility
If your site fails to establish trust and credibility, users may be hesitant to engage or convert. Increase trust in your brand by adding customer testimonials, reviews, security badges and accreditations.
To summarise, it's important to assess your specific website's needs and goals to determine if a redesign is necessary. Every website and business is different, but by regularly evaluating and updating your website, you can ensure it remains fresh, functional, and aligned with your business objectives.
Want to know more? Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with the team at Adtrak to find out how we can help.
