Ten reasons to redesign your website

With more and more people using mobile phones and tablets to browse the internet, and with traditional desktops becoming less popular, it’s more important than ever to make sure your website is compatible with mobile devices, including newer models and versions. If your website is not compatible with a smartphone or tablet, or the user experience is poor with links or pages not working, then the visitor may leave. This reduction in visitors could mean you lose potential customers.

With 47% of consumers expecting a website to load within two seconds, and 40% abandoning it if it takes longer than three seconds to load, speed is a vital factor to consider when redesigning your site. Google has built website speed into its algorithm and prioritises faster sites over those that take longer to load, meaning that websites that load quickly are rewarded in its search results rankings. If you want to stay ahead of your competition, speed needs to be a top consideration when attracting customers to your site.

It may sound obvious, but an up-to-date website will have a positive visitor impact. If your site has content or features that are out of date and therefore no longer relevant, that could turn visitors away as they might feel the site has been neglected. A simple, clean, modern look that’s uncluttered could make a world of difference and may entice a visitor to stay on your site for longer.

If you’re struggling to get traffic to your site, then consider a redesign to make it more search engine friendly. This can be done through search engine optimisation (SEO). It’s crucial in making your site more visible and driving more traffic, therefore providing more opportunities to turn visitors into customers. It’s a good idea to look at your site’s current performance before you embark on any SEO. Study your visitor numbers, the time spent on various pages, as well as any rankings for keywords you may want to appear in search results.

The big online business sites are normally well protected against viruses, malware and hacking, but of course, small business sites are also susceptible. In addition to this, potential customers may feel unsafe if they visit your site and think it doesn’t look secure, and may go to other businesses if they feel that their sites offer more security. So, when going through a redesign process, it’s important to keep your site updated in terms of security, to minimise these threats and gain the trust of your visitors.

Even if a website is only a couple of years old, the technology may already be out of date, so during any website redesign, think about how your site is running. You might have outdated third-party tools, or perhaps you still have Flash built in, or even plugins that haven’t been updated. All these issues may make visitors want to leave if the experience is clunky, or they can’t carry out the task they set out to achieve. Redesigning your site with the latest technology will help it perform better, and may make visitors more likely to stay.

It’s important that any visitors to your website can navigate easily by moving between pages and are able to find and click on links smoothly. Difficulty in navigating may cause a confusing viewing experience. If you know your navigation is poor, it’s a good idea to redesign your site so your audience can find relevant information. Fixing broken links, removing any repetition of pages, or even adding simple tabs and categories on the main page of your website, makes navigation easier.

If your website hasn’t been updated in a while, it may not reflect your current brand or business offering, and is therefore in need of a redesign. For example, you may offer a service that your competitors also offer. However, because your site hasn’t been updated, this service will not be visible. Any redesign should reflect your current business and include all up-to-date services, so visitors know exactly what you offer.

You might look at your website and think it functions fine, or perhaps you believe that everyone who visits has a pleasant experience. However, take on board feedback from visitors, as they are the ones using it. You may get questions or feedback telling you that links are not working, or it’s not very clear how to buy a product, or even that your website is difficult to find. A redesign and a tidy up will help solve some of these issues, creating a more seamless visitor experience.

With every business trying to outdo its competitors, especially in the online world, you need a website that will help you stand out from the crowd to demonstrate that you are known and trusted. A redesign can be key in achieving this – and adding customer testimonials can help build up a level of trust with your audience. If your website currently shows no real signs of credibility, it may ultimately put people off investing their time and money with you.

If you would like to discuss a web design project with us please get in touch for a free, no-obligation chat.