Nowadays, it’s extremely important for your business to have a nice-looking, easy-to-use responsive website. Many people, while doing their research, check your business’s online presence along with your competitors’ before they call you or fill out a “request a quote” form.
Your business website is an essential element of your business that users base their first impression on. And, if done right, it could be your 24/7 salesperson.
Many businesses understand the importance of a mobile-friendly site and see the problems with their current one, but are still unsure about when to start the redesign process.
A website redesign always implies a lot of work. The best part, though, is the excitement of having a brand-new online presence at the end of the process that you will be proud to show everyone.
Here are five reasons that may help you determine the right time to invest in a redesign of your business website:
1. It looks outdated.
Businesses go through a redesign process for different reasons, but the main one is the old-looking site. You will not believe how many businesses still have websites that look like they were done decades ago. Even people with no experience in web design can tell they’re outdated. This could hurt your business, especially if users are choosing between several competitors. Consumers will most likely go with a business that has a nice-looking, easy-to-use website because it provides the assurance that the business is growing and on top of the latest trends and technologies.
2. It is not responsive and does not provide a seamless experience across all devices.
Nowadays, users may be looking at your site from a desktop, laptop, tablet or many variations of mobile devices. And they expect a seamless experience from all of these entry points. They want to be able to do the research on their phones and share the information they’ve found with friends and colleagues. And you may lose these people as customers if your site does not provide a smooth experience across all devices.
3. It has a bad user experience and is hard to navigate.
How often do you check what your competitors are doing? Once a year, once a month, daily? Unfortunately, many businesses don’t pay enough attention to their competition until it’s too late. The technology is evolving and changing so fast. Someone who is on top of the latest trends and understands users’ behaviour could move far ahead in the game. Always do your research and see what people in your industry are doing on their sites, check the new features they’ve implemented, see what big players are doing and implement that functionality to provide the best experience to your users and convert them into customers. When you create a new site for your business, always make sure to build it so that it can grow with your business and you can add additional features and functionalities without the need to redo the entire site.
4. You cannot update the content.
Good content is something that can set you apart from the competition and deliver the right message to your users. This might be done through text, videos, tutorials, how-to instructions, etc. Content marketing has become very important and can play a huge role in the success of your business. The ability to update and add new content is necessary, and you should be able to easily do this through a content management system. Also, make sure that your website is optimised for SEO, which will help with your marketing efforts.
5. Features on the site don’t work properly.
Design is not the only thing to consider when thinking about website redesign. If you have a great-looking site that doesn’t work properly and users leave because some features are not functioning right, you will lose business. So many times I have heard people complain that their shopping cart is not working or is too complex, and it still takes the business months or even years before it’s fixed. The business may lose more money during that time than what the site upgrade might cost them.
When you are finally ready for a redesign, be prepared and allocate enough resources. This will be an exciting process that will help you and your company look deep inside your business, analyse your goals and strategies, and launch a beautiful, easy-to-navigate site that will help your business grow.