Top 8 Signs You Need a New Website
In today’s digital age, it’s hard to make money in your business without a website and even harder to make money with a poorly designed or underperforming website….because then customers will automatically assume that you are not doing business with. So let’s jump right into the top 8 signs it's time for you to redesign or build a new website.
1. Your Website looks old like it was built in the 1990s
81% of shoppers will research a business online before purchasing. That means, your website is your first impression on new customers. It’s your first chance to build trust with new customers and convince them that they should choose to do business with you.
Users will bounce (yes, that’s a technical term) if your site looks outdated. Today, our attention spans are shorter, and our expectations of online content is higher. People are less inclined to spend time on a site that they feel is not credible.
How often have you gone to a site that looked old and outdated, and quickly hit that back button? Just the appearance of the site probably creeped you out and made you feel like it was not trustworthy. And what did you do right after that? You kept searching online for other businesses to spend your money with.
Here are some real-life examples of outdated websites:
See how important the look of your website is? You don’t have to be the best, but you should look it!
2. Slow load time
Google and search engines penalize sites that have slow load time. This means, as a result, that your site will not be seen by as many people on Google and consequently receive fewer clicks.
Websites with a slow load time have more difficulty showing up in the top of the page results on Google and other search engines. The list that shows up when you search for something on Google is called the “organic listings.”
Here is what an organic listing is: *Image: listings
People don’t wait for anything anymore, what makes you think they’ll wait for your website to load. If you owed them money, then perhaps they’d practice a little more patience, but you are hoping to get into their pockets, so they will not hesitate to bounce (technical term again) if you are not providing a fast experience.
Website visitors will not wait.
79% of online shoppers say they won’t go back to a website if they’ve had trouble with load speed. .
40% of people abandon a website that takes more than 3 seconds to load
A 1 second delay in page response can result in a 7% reduction in conversions
If you’re panicking, thinking, “ Oh no, what if my site is too slow and causing me to lose business”....stop. Check the speed of your website first to see how your site’s load speed is performing.
Click here to check your sites Load Speed
If you get a failing score, then you should panic.
3. Complaints from customers - Difficult to use
It’s bad enough to have a poorly designed website. It’s worse when customers begin to voice their frustration to you or others about your website
Even if customers are not voicing their opinions, you should seek their feedback. Survey customers to find out their opinion about their experience on your website.
Here is a free tool that you can add to your website for feedback from users.
This is the most important thing to remember… your website must be designed for ‘ease-of-use’ for customers
If users find it to be a pleasant experience full of useful information, they spend more time, then Google notices and rewards your site with more traffic. And the cycle continues.
4. Doesn’t compete with competitors
View your site next to your competitor’ and be honest... if you were a customer which would you choose to do business with? If your answer is not YOU, then it’s time to redesign your site