If your website hasn’t been updated in a while, it’s probably overdue for a refresh. It’s easy to fall behind in today’s fast-paced world. If you’re not using the latest designs, features, and technologies, your competitors will outpace you. Here are 7 signs that it’s time to refresh your website.
Signs That Your Website Needs a Refresh
1. Outdated Design
Some websites are not ugly or unprofessional looking but they still look dated. Visitors can’t necessarily pinpoint why (unless they’re well-informed about web design). but they sense it nonetheless. Some signs of outdated design include fonts that are difficult to read, poor quality, generic-looking images, lack of white space, or a default/generic colour scheme (or too many colours that don’t harmonise). Still another sign of dated design is flash, which isn’t accessible to most mobile
2. It’s Not Mobile-Friendly
With more and more people using mobile devices, your site must be mobile-friendly. ComScore reports that mobile accounts for 65% of all digital time. Responsive design allows users on all types of devices to see your content. If your website isn’t yet responsive, it’s time for a change. Otherwise, you’ll be losing lots of potential customers.
3. Your Website Lacks SEO-optimized Content
You want your customers to find you online easily. This requires that you have lots of SEO-optimized content on your website. A good way to arrange this is to publish regular blog posts with popular keywords. Regardless of your site’s format, you want your headlines, tags, articles, and images that are search engine friendly. Do a search for some terms that are popular with your customers. If your site doesn’t show up, it’s time to address this issue.
4. Visitors Aren’t Spending Much Time on Your Site
A successful website needs visitors. However, it’s equally important that visitors spend time reading and engaging with your content. If you have a high bounce rate, this shows that your site needs work in this area. The bounce rate refers to visitors who leave after viewing only a single page. Ideally, people browse several pages and, hopefully, take action before leaving. Another important metric is time spent on pages. If people see a page and leave, you’re not capturing their interest.
5. Pages Are Loading Slowly
Today’s internet users have very little patience. Many will leave if they have to wait more than a few seconds for a page to load. There are many possible causes for slow-loading sites. Certain plugins might slow things down if you use a CMS such as WordPress. Large images are another common culprit. In some cases, redundant data is responsible. Whatever the cause, a slow site is one way to lose many visitors.
6. Your Site Has a Cluttered Look
Clutter in a room makes people feel claustrophobic. It’s similar with website visitors. People need a certain amount of space to absorb everything. Too many elements make it hard to focus. This can happen when you try to stuff too much on one page, such as images, ads, videos, logos, and other items. Some websites fail to get rid of outdated material from months or even years ago. Lack of white space is another cause of clutter. White space also makes pages more mobile-friendly.
7. It Hasn’t Been Updated in Years
If you created your website 5 years ago and haven’t made substantial updates since then, it’s almost certainly due for some change. Simply adding new pages or a new element here and there doesn’t count as a refresh. You need to look at every element of your design and ensure it has a fresh look. Because popular fonts, colours, layouts, and features change quickly, it’s best to give your website a makeover every few years.
To find out how to refresh your website with a beautiful new design, contact us.
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Further Information:
12 Tactics to Increase WordPress Website Speed
8 Top WordPress Security Plugins for Business Websites
10 Plugins that Showcase the Versatility of WordPress Website Design
7 Strategic Mobile Responsive Website Design Benefits
10 Signs Your Outdated Website Should Be Upgraded to WordPress
10 Ways to Improve Your Search Ranking for Your WordPress Website
WordPress Website Image Best Practices for SEO, Speed and Engagement
9 Essential Website Features for Remote Users
12 WordPress Web Design Tips for Small Businesses
10 Best Practices for a Successful WordPress Website Design Project
