If you started your business at any time in the 21st century, odds are you set up some sort of website when it was founded. You set up your business website and were happy with the content and design. When business really started picking up, you got overwhelmed and found yourself juggling so many tasks that updating and maintaining your website slipped down your list of priorities. It’s normal.
Updating a website is time consuming, and requires you to allocate time and resources to ensuring it’s the best site possible, but it’s crucial to not falling behind. Your website is essentially the online storefront for your business. If it doesn’t appeal to visitors, they may simply move on to another site, just like they would if they visited a physical location that didn’t grab their attention.
There are tons of reasons why your website may need an update, but we’ve kept it down to five for now.
1. It hasn’t been updated in several years
You might think that it’s obvious that a website should be updated every few years, but the reality is, many businesses let years by without making any changes. The reality is, Google is constantly changing SEO rules, and if you don’t keep up, your website could be considered obsolete in just a few years.
If your website is several years old, it’s likely carrying a lot of unnecessary HTML code. This could slow down loading speeds, which affect user experience and ultimately, search rankings.
2. It is not mobile friendly
The quickest test you could give your website is simply by visiting it on your mobile device. If it looks bad on your phone or tablet, then there’s no question it needs an update. The majority of Google searches now come on mobile devices. In fact, in the first quarter of 2020, 56% of organic search engine visits were from a mobile device. Google has observed this trend for several years and have implemented a ‘mobile first’ policy.
This simply means when crawling a website, Google will scan the mobile version first and assess its ranking primarily on your mobile site. Your efforts should reflect that in any redesign.
3. Your website looks old next to your competitors
Searching through your competitors will also give you an answer in determining whether you need an upgrade. If you find yourself falling behind digitally on your competitors, then it’s time to play some catch up. Look through their sites, see what works and what’s most appealing about them, and see where you could do even better.
4. Visitors have trouble navigating
Any website should be built with the users in mind. Is it easy to navigate? Is the information stored in a way that visitors can easily find the information they’re looking for? The best approach is usually to keep your site as simple as possible. If your site is cluttered with text and nothing pops out to draw your attention, then it likely means your visitors will give a quick pass and move on.
5. No effective calls to action
Ultimately you want to turn visitors into customers. Call-to-action buttons or links should be placed strategically throughout your website so visitors know exactly where they have to go to get the info they need.
Whatever your CTA is, make sure it grabs a reader’s attention and prompt them to take that next step to becoming a customer of yours. Ultimately, that is the goal of your website, so this is a crucial point to remember.
Final thought
At the end of the day, you’ll just get that feeling that your site needs an update simply by taking an honest look through it. Putting yourself in a visitor’s shoes will ultimately give you the best perspective in deciding whether your website needs an update. And once you make that update, be sure to make it a habit to constantly review your website and look for ways you can improve it.
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