Your website is your digital storefront and one of your most important marketing tools. It’s how customers learn about your business, and decide whether or not to buy from you. If your website is outdated, it’s not doing its job.
Over time, websites become outdated. It happens to the best of us. Perhaps your business has changed, but your website hasn’t kept up. Maybe you’ve added new products or services, but haven’t taken the time to add them to your site. Maybe your website still looks like it did when you first launched, or worse it has the hodge-podge look of a teenager’s bedroom transitioning from princesses to pop music idols.
Technology and trends change fast, with newer and better features emerging as time goes by. Your website may have once been cutting-edge, but now it could be costing you money.
Here are a few telltale signs that your website needs an update
It’s the little things
Visual elements have shifted placement. Buttons stop working. There are broken links here and there. These little problems can create a big impact on customer confidence.
It looks outdated
Web design trends come and go (well, mostly go), and as Business 2 Community points out, an average website has a “shelf life” of about 1.5 to 2.5 years. If your site appears to be beyond its expiration date, customers will assume that your business is stuck in the past.
It’s not mobile-friendly
According to Google, about 94% of people use their phones and tablets to search for local information. If your site isn’t designed to be viewed on these smaller screens, you’re missing out on potential customers.
It’s not easy to use
Websites should be easy to navigate and user-friendly. If yours is confusing or visitors cannot find what they are looking for quickly, they will likely leave your site and find their way to a competitor’s site instead.
It’s slow
Bluntly stated, if your website pages load too slowly, visitors will leave and go elsewhere. In a 2018 Google Research, the average load time for a mobile page is 15.3 seconds. To improve transaction conversions, aim for a 1 to 2-second load time, according to Portent. Conversion rates decrease for every additional second it takes for your site to load. This impacts your bottom line in lost contacts and potential revenue.
Why an outdated website is costing you money
You’re losing out on potential customers
An outdated website reflects poorly on your business. It makes you look like you don’t care about your online presence. This can turn potential customers away.
Your search engine ranking may suffer
Search engines like Google regularly update their algorithms, and if your website is outdated, it’s probably not optimized for search engines. This means you’re missing out on valuable search engine traffic and potential customers.
You could be missing out on new technology
Frequently, new technologies emerge that can help your business grow online. For example, if your WordPress plugins haven’t been updated, they can cause serious functionality problems on your site, lead to security issues, or worse hacking.
We’re here to help.
Do you need a website strategist to help you create your next-gen online presence? Whether you’re considering a redo or starting from scratch, our team is ready to get the job done. For more information, book a consultation today.