Your website shoulders an immense responsibility for your business. Not only does it set the tone for your brand and serve as an invitation for searchers to learn more, but it also guides user experience, which is critical to conversions. You put a lot of thought, time, and effort into your website when it was originally created, but you may not have paid much attention to it since. Keeping your website fresh in terms of aesthetics and content as well as up-to-date in terms of technology can help you maximize your business’s growth potential, get the jump on your competitors, and offer all those potential customers a hassle-free online experience. While regularly tweaking your website can keep it in good working order for years, sometimes a redesign is the way to go.
Timing Your Redesign
Technology doesn’t sleep. Technological changes, along with shifts in business practices and the means by which people shop and search for services, are such that redesigning – or seriously updating – your website about every six years is considered optimally responsive. Not every redesign calls for a complete overhaul of the site – some aspects of your site may be working exceptionally well, some may need to be updated, and it may be time for some to go. The idea is to attract new customers without alienating those who’ve already warmed to your site. Aiming for a redesign about every six years helps to ensure that your site doesn’t become a patchwork effort of hasty repairs and on-the-fly fixes.
Your Website Makes Your Business’s First Impression
Nobody has to tell you how important first impressions are, and – credit where credit is due – your website is probably doing a lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to your potential customers’ first impressions. In other words, you want it to shine in terms of all the following:
- Its aesthetic appeal
- Its ease of use
- Its ability to inform potential customers what you’re all about and to answer their pressing questions
- Its smooth application of technology
You want viewers to feel at home on your website, which serves as an ambassador of your brand. When everything is well designed and running smoothly, the line between website and experience can blur beautifully, but you can’t reach this level of website magic by accident – or with a hit-or-miss approach.
Prime Reasons for Redesigns
If you haven’t given your website a refresh in a while, now is a good time to give the matter some careful thought. If you are experiencing any of the common reasons for redesigns, it’s time to jump in with both feet.
Your Site Lacks a Modern Look
If the least tech-savvy person you know thinks your site lacks a certain modern flair, you know you have issues. Such issues speak less to the technology and more to the overall aesthetic design of your site. It goes far deeper than the pictures themselves, which you should be updating and refreshing on a regular basis. Your site should reflect your brand and values, but it should do so with a bit of finesse that a web design pro can help you with.
Your Site Offers a Clunky User Experience
Gone are the days when online customers are willing to put up with a less-than-seamless experience. If your website offers clunky transitions, lags behind, or crashes periodically, you can count on your competitors to offer a better experience, and you can count on potential customers looking elsewhere. Today’s consumers expect the sites they navigate to be as smooth as silk, and if yours doesn’t live up to this expectation, you’re not doing your business any favors.
Your Site Doesn’t Translate to Mobile Devices Well
When online business was conducted solely on desktop computers, you didn’t have to worry about your site translating well to people’s phones and tablets, but those days are gone. The tables have turned, and mobile devices now generate more web traffic than desktops do. In other words, you need to ensure that your site is firing on all cylinders across all devices, and if it’s not, there’s work to do.
Your Site Can’t Keep Up with Your Competitors
Take a peek at your closest competitors’ websites. If you feel a bit of website envy creeping in, it’s time to get busy with your own site. Even if you’ve been diligent about keeping your site up to date and running like a top, you’ll want to dig deeper if your competitors are outpacing you.
You Don’t Have a Content Management System in Place
Your content is the jewel in the crown that is your website, but if you don’t have a well-oiled system in place that makes editing, swapping out, and changing content regularly a breeze, your website is lacking. Regularly updating your photos is a great practice that can help keep your site fresh with very little effort. If you don’t have a system in place for doing so, there’s work to be done. Additionally, if you haven’t explored the value of sharing through video content, it’s time to give it some thought – more and more businesses are joining this bandwagon, and online consumers respond well.
Your Site Doesn’t Accurately Reflect Your Evolving Business
Your business is not a static entity, and your website shouldn’t be either. If your website is not an accurate reflection of your business as it stands today, you’re missing out on a golden opportunity to make the right first impression, and it’s time to hit refresh.
Turn to a Digital Marketing Pro to Make Your Redesign Shine
At The Web Guys, we can help with every aspect of your redesign – from overall aesthetic and design to digital marketing, custom development, and implementation. A redesign can give your business that boost of confidence you’re looking for, and we’re standing by to help. Learn more about what a site redesign can mean for your business by contacting or calling us at (317) 805-4933 today.
