5 Reasons Your Website Needs a Redesign Now
When was the last time your website got a spring clean? Pixels may not be physical, but websites can certainly gather digital dust...
A modern, fresh, intuitive website is key to online business success. Even the faintest shadow of doubt can cause customers to bounce from your website and into the stratosphere of the internet, never to return again. According to research, 88% of consumers are less likely to return to a website after an unpleasant experience.
That’s 88% of potential new business.
Time to get out those cleaning gloves and get redesigning.
Redesigning websites doesn’t necessarily need to be as an enormous task as it seems. It could be as simple as making small functional modifications to improve user experience.
It’s as if your parents are visiting and you’re suddenly noticing the cobwebs in the corner... The important thing is to take a step back and view your site with a fresh pair of eyes. This is your customer's perspective. Is your current design helping you hit your business targets?
We’ve listed 5 alarm bells that your website needs redesigning now…
Your Websites Not Converting.
Your website is getting traffic, but you’re not getting any enquiries or purchases.
Red flag alert!
High traffic without customer conversion means something is either wrong with your product, or your website… and the latter is more easily fixed.
In short: your website isn’t connecting with your customers. It’s likely this is due to poor user experience.
People should be able to find the information they’re looking for on your website within three clicks.
If this isn’t the case, it’s worth examining the structure of your site, and the paths necessary for potential customers to get to the juicy information. Clear website navigation is key to making the user experience a breeze. It also means they’re more likely to stick around and return in the future.
Imagine this... you want to buy some socks.
There are two shops on the street. First is ‘Sock Shop A’… the store is well lit, welcoming, there’s a delicious smell of fresh linen inviting customers in, it’s sparkling clean and bangin’ tunes are enticing to the ears. It’s sock heaven.
‘Sock Shop B’ is on the same street. It’s getting the same footfall past its window. But it’s dark, it’s unclear whether it’s open or shut. Is it a clothes shop or a pharmacy?… hard to tell because the shelves are empty. It’s uninviting, and customers walk right on by.
Be sock shop A. Make the sock shopping a joy. Get the business.
Side note - Google Analytics is a fantastic way to understand your web traffic. Google’s data allows you to identify whether customers are moving through a clear funnel from your home page to your cart. At what point do they drop off? This may make your design downfalls clear and help discover what’s putting your customers off.
Your Websites Not Mobile Responsive.
We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again - if your website doesn’t work on mobile or tablet you are missing out on a huge audience.
57% of all global website traffic comes via mobile devices, which has increased by almost 250% in the past 5 years - and it’s set to grow. It’s anticipated that nearly three-quarters of the world population (72%) will only use their smartphones to access the internet by 2025.
That’s a lot of numbers.
Enough numbers to signal a clear message: you need to have a mobile optimised website!
Not sure what ‘mobile optimisation’ means? To summarise - you need to check that your website is looking on fleek not only on desktop computers, but also when accessed on different mobile devices (this means smartphones, but also tablets). With new phone releases come new screen sizes - so it’s super important to keep on top of technological developments in mobile! Here are a few pointers to discover whether your website is working for mobile users:
Is Your Website’s Text Legible?
No one wants to be pinching their fingers at their phone screens trying to read your website bio. Make sure your text is clearly readable, even on a small phone screen.
Do The Images Appear Correctly?
Make sure the images on your website adjust to mobile devices - this means heads aren’t being chopped off and photographs aren’t becoming pixelated. It’s also important to ensure photos are optimised to reduce user’s load time.
Is The Site Easy To Navigate On A Smaller Screen?
Is your user experience as strong on mobile as it is on desktop? Is your call to action easy to find? A smaller screen means less space to play with - can you reduce your content without diluting your communications? It’s important to use elements such as video and animation more sparingly on your mobile site as it can hugely affect load time, which of course impacts your customers!
Having a mobile-friendly site is crucial in capturing and converting web traffic in 2019 and beyond. As well as user experience, mobile optimisation also influences SEO.
All websites built by Studio 77 are mobile responsive, and if you’re also a Squarespace user - the platform has built-in responsive functionality: there is no excuse to not have a mobile optimised website!
Your Website Embarrasses You, Or Worse, You Don’t Even Like Your Website.
Your business’ branding and website are an extension of the persona that your business is trying to convey. If you don’t like your website then what must your customers think?
The truth is, if you’re embarrassed by your website, it’s because it doesn’t reflect you correctly.
Maybe it’s because you’ve been going a while, and over the years your business model and audience has evolved. Your brand values have changed - but does your website display this?
Or maybe your current website has never quite conveyed your brand values, and you’ve always just... tolerated it.
Either way, it’s crucial for businesses to display an online presence which accurately reflects the brand, and communicates it as close as possible to the ‘real-life’ presence.
Your website can elevate your brand to new heights, but only if it correctly reflects your brand, accurately communicates your products/services, and, most importantly, you’re proud of it!
Without pride, it’s likely you’re ignoring your website. So your customers will do the same. You’ll be making fewer updates, rarely refreshing photos and copy - or showing it love - which reduces the likelihood of repeat customers, and doesn’t help your SEO.
But on the flip side, being proud of your website is a virtuous cycle. it’s more likely that you’ll be caring for it: adding regular updates such as new blog content, which will attract more new and repeat customers, and the cycle continues.
Your site has a long load time
As we mentioned in our photography blog, if your photos aren’t optimised for web, then it could take a long time for your site to load, resulting in a ‘drop off’ of customers. We’ve all been there when the site takes more than 2 seconds to load so you literally give up…
In fact, according to research, 49% of users expect a site to load in 2 seconds or less!
In short, your customers won’t wait around. Which risks your business losing leads and sales.
You can use Google’s PageSpeed Insights to diagnose exactly where your issues lie - which pages and images are causing your site to load slowly, and how long the load times are for your customers, showing areas of improvement.
And while testing this, it might be a good idea to check everything is working on your site. If you haven’t visited your own website in a while, there’s a chance an embedded video might have since been removed from a linked site, content might not display as you expected... or you might have a had dreaded 404 page secretly appear due to a broken link.
To be proud is to keep checking in with yourself. Do the same with your website!
Your Website Is The Worst Out Of Your Competitors.
If all of your competitors have lovely new websites, and your site is still the same as it has been for the last five years, perhaps it’s time to up-level your digital presence.
Design moves quickly. Never stand still or you’ll be left behind.
Think about it, if you were shopping around and you found two identical companies, selling the same thing, with the same reviews, for the same price, but one had a swanky website and the others looks circa 2005 - you’d choose the swanky website. Design can be, and often is, the tipping point of converting a customer.
Design isn’t only regarding aesthetics. It gives subtle signals to customers. Good design is trustworthy. You’re proving that you’re moving with the times, you know what’s up - because you’re keeping up.
It’s time to be the top dog.
