Is my website outdated? Here 4 signs to tell if you need to update your website.
In the modern day of smartphones, tablets, and other technologies, it is easy to get information at your fingertips. We have come to utilize all devices to search out anything we question or wish to acquire information about. The majority of users “Google it!” The internet has become a haven that answers our wildest questions and has become an enormous extension of everyday life. Websites are the building blocks of where we access that information.
Websites need to capture their audience in order to get people to stay on the site long enough to receive information. A business can not sell its products online if a website is hard to use and makes it hard to find product information and buy products. Users will quickly move on to other websites if they can’t find the information/products they are looking for in less than a minute.
An integral reason users could be leaving your website is that it needs an update. Here are the top 4 signs to tell if you need to update your website.
Reasons To Update Your Website:
#1: Your Design is Outdated
First and utmost we have the ill faded outdated design! Overall an outdated design can hurt your online presence in the eyes of former and new visitors to your website realm. In the end, this damages your website credibility, presents unprofessionalism, harms your brand, and costs you business. All of these factors are what we definitely dread and want to stay away from! A redesign brings a modern look/feel to your website! The goal is to bring in new clients/customers and keep the present clients impressed!
A second reason to update your website deals with poor user experience! No one wants to arrive at a website, be unable to navigate, and be confused about how to access what they are there for. Who wants to use a shoddy application to get them from point A to point B!?
The answer is no one as you will be sent on the wrong streets, streets that do not exist, the grand issue of getting lost, and overall becoming frustrated! Having users experience being sent to the wrong page, pages that are nonexistent, getting lost in the website, and becoming frustrated causes the user to leave. With user experience, the goal is to have a streamless experience for the user.
This experience must be straightforward, and clean, and make the user feel they have had a good experience when they leave. Their practical goals will keep users on your website longer!
The tertiary aspect of updating is mobile responsiveness. Users and ourselves have all experienced a website that is unfriendly to our mobile devices. In perspective, there are around 4 billion mobile internet users with 58% of websites being accessed through mobile devices. With these astonishing numbers, it is of great importance that emphasis is placed on mobile responsiveness. Mobile responsive design will engage users with a positive experience. This mobile responsiveness will help to keep users on your website as it is pleasing for them to use.
#4: You Website Has No Competitive Edge
A fourth reason to update is the competitive edge your website brings to the forefront of the websites of the internet! Without updating your website you are left in the proverbial dust of other websites that are being updated on a regular basis. Your website will not have an exciting effect on users in turn causing the users to leave.
Your website must stand out from the crowd which leads to greater success. The things to focus on to make a website have the ultimate competitive edge revolve around having a clear design. A clear design has easy-to-read fonts and cohesive branding, each page has a call to action, creating compelling content, and unique imagery. These updates bring intensive acclaim to your competitive edge.
Closing Note:
At the end of the day, in order to keep these users coming back and attain new users you need to update your website over periods of time. When beginning to consider if you should update your website or not, focus on these four facets and remember they are integral to continuing a successful business. Updating your design, positive user experience, mobile responsiveness, and having a competitive edge will propel your website to success.
If you need help updating your website, Corkboard Concepts can help. We assist businesses in updating the site from the very first phase of design to the execution of the process. To learn more, contact us today!