A well-designed, up-to-date website is critical to your business’ success in the digital age. This includes all aspects of web design—functionality, accessibility, aesthetic appeal, etc. A poor user experience reflects badly on your company, while a professional-looking website promotes a good impression to potential customers, and a well-functioning page can have a direct improvement on your conversions.
There’s no hard and fast rule for how often you should update your website, but to keep in line with ever-changing digital trends, experts recommend every three to five years. If you’re worried that it might be time to update your company’s digital presence, check out these signs your website needs improvement.
Slow Website Speed
Studies have found that many users will leave a webpage if it takes longer than three seconds to load. Slower websites typically have fewer conversions, as well as low online visibility. This is because website speed is one of the ranking factors Google uses to determine how high your webpage appears on the search results page.
You can test your website speed here.
Outdated or Unprofessional Web Design
The quality of your web design can seem like subjective criteria at first, so let’s break down the sure signs of a poorly and unprofessionally designed website.
Poor image quality: your website’s images are blurry, sized incorrectly with respect to text content, or not relevant to your message.
Visual clutter: the user is assaulted by too many images, colors, buttons, or blocks of text that make it difficult to get a clear message across. Your website should make use of whitespace and a limited color palette that reflects your brand.
Outdated or unclear content: the written content on your website no longer reflects your business’ message or goals, or the written content makes it difficult for users to understand what, exactly, your company does.
Poor user experience: load times affect user experience, but a poor website layout can also damage their impression of your company. A simple navigations system is a must—if users are forced to look hard for information that should be easy to find, it reflects poorly on your brand as a whole.
Not Optimized for Mobile Browsing
Almost half of website traffic comes from mobile device users, so having a responsive website that’s optimized for mobile browsing is a must. What does this look like?
- The website layout easily adjusts to a smaller screen without losing functionality or navigability
- Load speed isn’t compromised, including the speed of mobile checkout
- Font, image, and button size adjust to be comfortably read, viewed, and used on a smaller screen
- Videos (that are capable of playing on a mobile device) play without issues
Once you’ve improved your website, don’t miss out on the opportunity to promote it to your customers. Show them your company is listening to their feedback, and show off your willingness to stay current and strive for perfection. If you’re looking to go the extra mile, market your mini-rebrand with custom promotional products from Facetime Business Resources.