Some brands choose to redesign or refresh their websites when they are looking a little tired or dated, or perhaps simply because they fancy a change. However, there are others that really need a refresh, not because of aesthetics but because of serious problems with functionality.
If you think your website is working well and you don’t plan to redesign it for a long time to come, take a look at the following five warning signs and see if they apply to your site. You may be surprised…
- Your bounce rate is way too high. This is the number one warning sign of a poorly functioning website, so ignore it at your peril. It usually means that your site made a bad first impression or the user didn’t find what they were looking for, or perhaps that your site was too slow to load.
- It’s not mobile-ready. Practically the whole world accesses websites on their mobile devices nowadays, so you mustn’t get left behind. A responsive design for mobile is essential for any website, so if you can’t modify yours, it’s time to start again.
- Users complain about loading speeds. If your site has lots of beautiful images but it’s slow to load, a re-think is most definitely in order. A slow site will turn away impatient users instantly. They will simply click elsewhere.
- It uses Flash. According to reports, Flash is on the way out, and some even claim that it is dead already. It’s not hard to see why its popularity has plummeted, as iPhones and iPads don’t support it and many of the major search engines can’t read it, leading to poor rankings for your site. If your site uses Flash, it’s time for a redesign. If you’re fond of it, don’t worry – HTML5 is just as good for creating animations and interactive design elements and it’s compatible with all browsers and devices.
- Your site’s SEO rankings are poor. Many brands make the mistake of designing a website that looks beautiful and then ‘doing SEO’ to it after the fact. If your website is performing poorly in search rankings, there are things you can to improve it. Ultimately though, you need to build SEO principles into the design from the get-go, and that means starting again. Don’t think SEO is important? Take a look at these compelling statistics from Search Engine Journal – including one claiming that 92% of online experiences start with a search engine – and you may change your mind.
If none of these apply to your website but it is more than 5 years since your site was created, as a general rule of thumb now is the time for a change. Creating a new website may take time, money and a little creative thinking, but it’s also the ideal opportunity for a re-brand that you can whip up some excitement about.
If you’ve recently redesigned your site, what gave you the motivation to do it? Please feel free to share your thoughts.
