Over the years, the internet has been experiencing significant changes. From speed to structure to design innovation, everything is constantly evolving. Modern technological advancements are making everyday life easier. But, more specifically, they enable us to connect and stay in touch without much effort. For businesses, this means that communication with customers is on a higher level than ever before. Not only through direct interaction but also through other, indirect means. That is why websites are one of the critical factors to your business success. You need a responsive, visually appealing, and highly functional website as part of your digital marketing concept. If it’s not providing a good enough user experience, maybe it’s time to redesign your website. Everything that will allow you to better connect with your existing and potential customers.
When is the time to redesign your website?
If you are starting a new business, chances are your website will look good and on point with recent trends. But, if you have been in business for years, maybe it’s time to consider a few changes. Just like everything else in business, websites constantly evolve to meet the visitors’ needs. One of the reasons is that we are now living in a visual world. Another – your audience seems to always lack time. If your website is not satisfying these prerequisites, it probably needs some improvements. No one want’s to waste time searching for information on a cluttered and nonfunctional website.
However, a website redesign is not a small task. If you are not confident enough, make sure to consult professional developers for advice. But, before you do it, consider this list of reasons that can help you decide whether it’s time to redesign your website or not:
- You are experiencing a high bounce rate
- It offers a bad user experience
- It’s not optimized for mobile devices
- Website loading speed is slow
- Your business is not ranking high enough on search engines
- Conversions are falling behind
- Website design is too old and not visually appealing
- It’s not representing your brand well
- Website is complex to update or make minor changes
- Your competitors have better websites
- You are experiencing a high bounce rate
One of the goals of having a website is to convert visitors to customers. For that, you have to provide them with valuable information, solutions to problems, advice, etc. The absence of these things is among the most common reasons why people leave websites. You want to keep your online audience interested and engaged if you want them to stay. By measuring the bounce rate, you will see how many visitors leave after viewing only one page.
In general, you want the lowest possible bounce rate to improve your chances of conversions. If the numbers are high, it may indicate that something is wrong with your website. It can be a lack of quality content, poor navigation, or many similar defects. With appropriate changes, you will catch your visitors’ attention and eventually convert them into customers.
- It offers a bad user experience
As mentioned above, many reasons can make people leave your website. One of the major ones is bad user experience. Nowadays, people don’t want to struggle while looking for something of interest. They want the information easily accessible, and they want it fast. That’s why having straightforward navigation, nonintrusive ads and popups, smartly implemented call-to-action, good structure, and plenty of visual material is imperative. If you have any doubts, look at the modern user experience of other websites. If you think your website is falling behind and doesn’t provide what it should, the way it should, it’s definitely time for some redesigning.
- It’s not optimized for mobile devices
One of the main reasons behind a bad experience is poor optimization for mobile devices. Considering that most people are using all kinds of mobile devices when browsing the internet, this is a significant flaw. If your website fails to display correctly on all devices, you have to give it a major overhaul. Just consider the fact that the majority of developers are using the mobile-first approach – prioritizing mobile devices. And then, they implement a responsive design to make it display properly on other screens. Even search engines are advising this approach to avoid any problems in the future.
- Website loading speed is slow
Since the human attention span is sort of a burning subject today, you can’t disregard the aspect of speed. For your website to appear performing, it has to load fast. Anything longer than a few seconds (2-5) can endanger your website traffic. Visitors want all the information at their disposal as soon as they open your website. Also, this is one of the essential ranking factors for search engines. Fortunately, you can redesign your website and optimize it along the way to improve its performance.
- Your business is not ranking high enough on search engines
Now we are coming to the SEO aspect. Poorly designed websites that fail to provide an optimal experience won’t rank well on search engines. However, SEO considers more than just these two things. You need the right keyword implementation, quality content, a lot of valuable links, and many more. If you feel these are the reasons that are dragging your ranking position down, a complete redesign is the only solution. Sometimes, it’s easier to start from scratch than correct all the mistakes on an old website.
- Conversions are falling behind
If you see a consistent drop in conversion rates, redesigning your website might be a good solution. If you want to have:
- an attractive and compelling website
- on track with current trends
- with continuously increasing traffic
- where users will have no trouble finding what they need
Then website redesign will help you achieve these goals. Sometimes, even a small change can help you offer value to your visitors.
- Website design is too old and not visually appealing
While it’s not the fashion industry, following modern web design trends can mean a lot, especially for business websites. Besides functionality, you need a visually appealing and modern-looking website to represent your company. Generally speaking, you want to demonstrate that you are in touch with current trends and that you care about your company’s visual representation.
- It’s not representing your brand well
Your brand image is one of the most critical factors in the digital age. Despite the saying, this is where first impressions truly matter. However, sometimes companies conduct a complete rebranding to better represent their goals. In this situation, it’s often necessary to completely redesign your website to properly reflect your new brand.
- Website is complex to update or make small changes
If you find it difficult to update and implement even the lightest changes on your website, consider a new website. Chances are, the platform your website is built on is too complex and not appropriate for you. This often happens when websites are custom-made and can’t keep up with the latest innovations. To avoid these problems, redesigning your website with a different platform can be the right option.
- Your competitors have better websites
For many industries, you can freely assume the competition is tight. Having a quality website to attract visitors is essential in such environments. If, when looking at competitors, you find that their websites are much better, then they are clearly at an advantage. To make your business stand out again, it’s time to redesign your website.