Gone are the days when a website would last you a lifetime, in fact, if you want to keep up with your competitors, you need your online presence to be an ever evolving, not to mention improving, platform.
Put simply, whether you have a corporate company website or a blog for your personal brand, to stay competitive your site needs to remain relevant in terms of both looks and functionality.
Then there’s the fact that Google is constantly changing and updating the way its algorithm works to improve search results.
That means, what was considered a modern and cutting-edge look and feel for a website two years might not be the case today
So with more and more websites going live every day, it’s never been more important to keep your web presence alive, not just to appear in more search results, but to promote your brand and increase traffic.
Reasons why you should update your website
Assuming the technology behind your site is still current, there is rarely a need to completely rebuild a website from scratch and some small improvements can make a massive difference to its look, feel and performance.
1. Your products are out of date
Adding new products or services to your existing website can often give a new, fresh look to your website without any major surgery being needed, and lets’ face it, nobody wants to browse a site displaying old or out of date items anyway.
2. Your content is looking tired
Search engines regard websites with the most recent content as the most interesting so, even though your content might be pure gold, if it hasn’t been changed or freshened up in a while, then the likes of Google might consider it irrelevant.
3. It has too many stock photos
Too many dated websites have something of an over-reliance on using stock photos, making your platform appear tired and forgotten. So have a look at the imagery on your website and try to make them relevant to you and your business rather than relying on the more convenient option.
And why you should start again
Sadly, sometimes the job is simply too big to be salvaged by some simple updates and a complete rebuild is the only answer. You may already know this, but let us point you towards a few tell-tale signs that your website’s time is up and is bound for the scrapheap.
1. It’s not responsive or mobile friendly
On average we spend around two hours on our smartphones every day browsing the internet; that’s twice as long as laptops and PCs, so ignoring the mobile market can be a very risky business.
2. You can’t measure its effectiveness
If your website is a few years old then you might be missing out on a number of vital tools which will be able to tell you how it’s performing. Heat mapping, conversion tracking and user recordings are just some of the online tools you can install to measure what works and what doesn’t on your website.
3. Your user journey is failing
If your analytics show a high bounce rate, it could mean that your current design is not converting web traffic as effectively as it could, so it’s probably time to update your payment process in order to stop the ever-increasing amount of abandoned shopping carts at the checkout.
Need help with your website?
A website should be at the heart of your brand and at Studio Coact, we can help you achieve this thanks to our bespoke web design that offers high functionality, forward-thinking creativity and a thorough understanding of your business objectives.
Studio Coact are web and design experts who provide thoughtful, engaging and clear marketing solutions that resonate with people around the world.
A Liverpool web design agency, we are passionate about businesses fulfilling their online potential, supporting companies from the outset or working with those looking to grow.
So talk to us today to see how we can make that all important improvement or maybe it’s time to embrace change and think about that brand new website that you and your business deserve.