Is It Time for a Redesign?

These days, just having a website is not enough. In addition, your website needs to look good and have comparable functionality to other websites in your industry. In fact, if your website is not up to par, you could actually be turning customers away! So how do you determine whether your website is adequate or whether you are in desperate need of a redesign?

In most cases, it is obvious. For example, we’ve all seen those websites which are poorly designed and feature neon colors, distracting animations, and text of all sizes. But sometimes, it may not seem so obvious. Below we’ve included a list of characteristics to look for which may mean that you need a redesign.

5 Reasons You May Need a Redesign

1. Your website was developed over 5 years ago. While time is not a good enough reason to redesign your website, it is important to note that the web has changed a lot over the last few years. This means that web surfers have different expectations. Browsers have changed and may affect the way your website looks. Search engines use different means for evaluating websites. And even the techniques and standards for developing websites have changed. Consequently, it may be necessary to evaluate your website in light of the current state of the web.
2. Organic traffic from search engines is low. Believe it or not, the underlying code for your website has a lot to do with the way in which it is viewed and indexed by search engines. So even if you don’t opt to redesign your website, it might be a good idea to have it recoded by a professional.
3. Pages load slowly. Many web surfers believe that slow-loading pages are one of the most annoying website features. In fact, by having a slow website, you may lose a good portion of your visitors.
4. Website was built for a smaller monitor. A few years ago, the computers that were used to access the web were predominately those with small monitors and low resolutions. As a result, most websites were developed to fit monitors that had a 800 by 600 resolution. Today, screens are much larger, with the majority of monitors having a resolution of 1024 by 768 and over. So, if you have a small website, you are likely annoying users who are used to being able to see more content on a web page than you can show.
5. Your website lacks common features seen on other sites. Today, there is a lot that we take for granted: links that change color when we hover over them, website forms that make sending messages easy, content which changes size depending on the browser, and more… If your website lacks simple features characteristic of your industry, then users will notice.

Many business owners see websites as relatively unimportant, especially when a business has a physical location through which business is done. However, these days, more and more people use the web to find out information and make purchases. So if your website is not a true representation of your business, or leaves much to be desired, it can be doing more harm than good.

So before you lose too many prospective clients or customers, it is a good idea to evaluate and improve your website. In the end, you should come up with a website which is robust and functional so that it can serve your needs now and in the future.