Websites, just like people, can grow old but it’s not so easy for the untrained eye to spot when a website is past its prime. There are, however, 4 trusty signs you can always rely on to let you know when your website is in urgent need of TLC.
How do you know if your web design requires updating?
A website is kind of like a plant. It’s not self-sustaining. You have to take proactive steps to nurture it and help grow. But while a plant shows obvious signs of neglect, the same can’t be said for a website. You have to poke around a bit, Sherlock Holmes style, to figure out how and why your website needs updating. Or, you can simply follow our advice and check for these four signs that your website needs a refresh:
1. Customers are having a poor user experience
User experience is a key part of how Google orders its search engine results, so if your website is failing on this front you can kiss goodbye to ranking on page 1 (where customers will actually find you). User experience generally refers to how easy your site is to navigate, so something as simple as a navigation menu is an essential aspect of positive user experience.
Your site’s functionality also has a huge bearing on user experience. If your site is full of broken links that result in 404 errors or buttons that don’t function on the latest web browsers, rest assured your website urgently needs updating.
2. Your site does not have a mobile responsive theme
Responsive web design is the gold standard of web design in 2022 and it’s something every business should be aiming for. If your site is responsive on mobile, it will intuitively resize to accommodate the device it’s being viewed on. The font and images will appear optimal, its menu and all interactive features will work correctly, and nothing will be cut off.
If your website isn’t mobile responsive, you’re in serious danger of falling down in search rankings and losing business to your competitors. Over half of all internet traffic occurs on mobile, so there couldn’t be a more compelling reason to make this update.
3. Your competitors are outranking you
Look, we all know how internet searches go. We make them every single day. You type in a search query and then open the top result. If that fails to deliver, you open the second result, and so forth. You get where we’re going, right?
We won’t beat around the bush. If your website is being outranked by your competitors it’s going to seriously hinder your ability to convert customers and generate sales. And, the more clicks your competitor’s websites get, the lower you’ll drop in search results, so if your competitors are outranking you, you 100% need to update your website ASAP.
4. Your site’s speed is very slow
And the final telltale sign that your website needs updating? It’s loading so slowly you could boil an egg by it.
Yep, slow loading websites are a big indicator that your poor site is screaming out for an update. And it’s a sign you simply can’t ignore as for every 1-3 seconds a page takes to load you lose an estimated 30% of site visitors.
Sites can be slow loading for a huge variety of reasons (too many to go into here) but rest assured they’re all easy fixes and once your site is running quickly again you should see a big reduction in bounce rates.
Do you believe your website is in need of an update? Email us on hello@regencycreative.co.uk
