Is Your Website Out Of Date? 8 Signs That You Need A Website Redesign

Today’s digital consumer is sophisticated and discerning. A company that has an out of date website is not going to be able to compete effectively in the marketplace. Potential customers don’t want to wait for pages to load or slog through outdated information. They will leave and go elsewhere.

How can you tell if your website is out of date? You will find eight signs that may tell you it is time for a website redesign.

1) Not Consistent With Your Current Branding

Effective branding requires consistency in all parts of your marketing. Your website should reflect your current logo, colors, and other marketing elements, just as your location and other brand elements do. That way, potential customers can identify your brand instantly, no matter where they encounter it. That builds trust and enhances your company’s reputation.
Inconsistency with branding can cost you customers. If your customers are expecting your current logo, and find your old one, they may think they are on the wrong website. At the very least, they will think you aren’t paying attention to your website. And that should trigger a website redesign.

2) Out-Dated And Unchanging Website Content

Does the top feature on your home page relate to something that happened several years ago? Customers don’t want to know that you won an award back in 2012 or that you want them to visit your new store location, which opened three years ago. They want to know what is happening today.
A stale website is not attractive to consumers, and it is not attractive to search engines. In fact, without updates, your website is going to slip down the search engine rankings, making it harder to drive traffic to your website. That is costing you money. Spend a bit with a website designer, and you will start making money.

3) Not Responsive

Today, the majority of people access a website via tablets or smart phones. Those devices have smaller screens. Responsive website design adjusts the website’s display depending on the size of the device’s screen. That way, the user has the optimal experience possible with a website.

If your website doesn’t automatically adjust based on a device’s screen size, you need a major update. Mobile friendly website design is not optional in today’s increasingly mobile world–in fact, it is an increasingly important factor in search engine optimization. If your website is not responsive, schedule a website redesign.

4) Your Customers Can’t Find The Information They Want

Today’s consumers expect to find a lot of information on a company’s website. If they cannot find their desired information, they will phone the company to get it. That extra step will make them less likely to want to do business with that company again.

If your employees field a lot of calls to get basic questions answered, you need to get your website updated. It will increase customer satisfaction while simultaneously lowering the number of calls your employees need to take. That lets them focus on their primary jobs.

5) Too Slow

Internet users hate to wait. If your website takes more than 3 seconds to load, 40 percent of visitors will leave. That means your pool of potential customers just dropped 40 percent. And that translates to a lot of lost revenue.

Your website could load slowly for any number of reasons. The technology may be outdated. There may be too many oversized pictures. The website code may have unneeded elements that are bogging down load time. Your provider’s network may be inadequate. In any case, you need to redo your website structure with the help of a website design company.

6) Too Complex

If your website is too complex, it will take too long to load. However, that is not its only problem. Complex website designs can be confusing and irritating to visitors. They don’t want to have to click on many different pages to find a simple piece of information. They will go elsewhere quickly.

Fancy design elements may look pretty, but they do your website no favors. Flash content needs to be the first thing to go. It’s outdated. Playing video or audio automatically is extremely irritating to visitors. Moving elements like a waving flag are distracting. If you have any of these elements, you need to redesign website now.

7) Broken Links And Elements

Visitors expect everything on your website to work. One broken link is mildly irritating. Multiple broken links show that the website owner is not paying attention. And that is a sign of trouble to a potential customer. If the website owner can’t keep their website up to date, where else will there be problems?

Broken links aren’t the only issue on some websites. Any element, like a video or audio player, that doesn’t work shows a lack of attention and sends the same message. You need to have a website designer get to work as soon as possible.

8) No Clear Call To Action

What do you want visitors to do when they visit your site? It depends on your business model. You might want them to make an order. You might want them to provide contact information. You might want them to call for an appointment. But, if your website doesn’t have a clear call to action, your visitors aren’t going to do it.

A call-to-action should be eye-catching, not lost in the mix. It should be integrated with your lead generation strategies. When you redesign a website, you need to keep this in mind.