Your website’s current look is dated – your site is a reflection of your brand. It should not look dated and should be reflective of current design trends. A dated website can give a bad perception of your company.
Website is not responsive – With Google’s “mobile-first” indexing, the way your website is made and looks on mobile can affect how your site shows up in their search results. Check your website on different types of mobile devices (smartphones and tablets) and consider the site’s text legibility, the sites ease of navigation and if the images appear properly.
Navigation – can users easily find the information they need? There is no point of having a great looking website, if your viewers have difficulty finding all of the important information they are looking for. Keep it simple and obvious to keep your clients and visitors happy and coming back.
Improve Usability – The quality of a user’s experience when interacting with your website is it’s usability. If a web site is difficult to use or if the homepage doesn’t clearly state what a company offers, people leave.
Site Speed – Is your Site Speed slow and frustrating users? If pages on your site don’t load completely in two to three seconds, you can be assured it’s too slow.
Social Media integration – Including links to your social network profiles and adding social sharing tools that make it easy for users to share or tweet your content make it easier for users to connect with you and spread the word about your business.
Poor Imagery – Striving to be professional and knowledgeable in your field requires your website to reflect that. Use high quality photography and design. Your website should convey a message in an easy, simple way and take a fraction of a second to understand. Images go directly into long-term memory and can be called upon when thinking about a particular business or company. Recognizing the importance of visual communication for your site is key to your success.
Current Errors – You may not even know how out of date your websites code or framework are. If you’re using a CMS like WordPress the back end code and plugins need to updated regularly. There may be errors or vulnerabilities that make your website run poorly or easily hacked.
Additional functionality – Design is not the only factor to consider when thinking about a redesign. A great-looking site that doesn’t work properly causes users to leave because features are not functioning right, this will lead to a loss of business.
Rebranding – If you’re company has recently Rebranded it’s extremely important for your website to portray your current brand image. A stronger brand image has the ability to take small businesses and entrepreneurs and make them stand out among their larger competitors, leveling the playing field.
Competition – Check the websites of your competitors and similar companies in your industry. Do their designs look way different from yours? Outdated design isn’t just about aesthetics. They provide subtle signals to your audience that lets them know you’ve kept up with trends and that your business is doing well. If your website was created five years ago, design trends have changed and your site probably looks outdated.
Business Goals – It’s also possible that your your business goals have changed and your site is no longer representative of your company. Some examples are company photos on your site no longer feature current staff or facilities, your target market has shifted, products or services could have changed. If any of the above is true, you should redesign your site.
