CT Inbound Marketing Blog | ImageWorks, LLC

Do You Still Have An Old School Website? Maybe It’s Time To Redesign

Written by Kelsey Ringuette | Thu, Feb 18, 2016 @ 05:41 PM

Do you feel like your website is not generating traffic like it used to? You've tried creating more content, adding new keywords and posting more on social media sites. Your traffic can be low for several reasons but the first step you may need to take, can be you need to simply redesign your website. This article discusses signs that it might be time to redesign your website to better appeal to larger audiences and convert more leads. 

Slow Loading Times 

According to KISSmetrics, 47% of consumers expect a web page to load in 2 seconds or less, and 40% of people will abandon a website that takes more than 3 seconds to load. This may not seem like a lot of time but an average website should be able to load within a second. Websites are constantly and quickly evolving so it's important to research new trends to keep your website up-to-date and and your design appealing and attractive. Your website needs to function quickly or people will feel like you may be an outdated source and move on to someone else. New and improved sites show a certain level of credibility so right off the bat, you seem like someone they can trust. If your website seems to be loading too slowly, there are several issues that could be taking too much space and it may mean it's time for a redesign. 

Low Conversion Rates

 Just having an online presence will not convert prospects to leads and leads to customers. You need to research analyze what your potential customers are looking for and how you can benefit them. However, to do that you need to find what will attract them to your website and provide them with informative content for more information that further peaks there interest. According to Hubspot, if your web analytics show a high bounce rate, low time on site and low average pages per visit, that’s a pretty strong indicator that your visitors don’t find your current site useful for one reason or another. This is important because not only is your site turning people away but you are starting to lose credibility and tarnishing your brand. You should be constantly analyzing your site's traffic trends and if it seems your conversion rates are way too low, it may be time to rebrand and redesign. 

Rebranding 

Maybe you have decided to rebrand and go in a new direction for your marketing efforts. If the tone of your site doesn’t appeal to your current target audience and work with your current messaging, it’s time to update it so it does. Rebranding shouldn't be taken lightly because people need a brand they can trust and that happens with time so if trying a new brand is necessary, you should take the proper steps to let your customers know you offer the same services and products but are revamping your website and rebranding your message. 

Not Mobile Friendly

Technology is advancing and soon mobile integration will be required if you want to stay relevant in the online world. Mobile has enhanced so much over the past couple of years and now accounts for more than 50% of all ecommerce traffic. It's important to keep up with these new trends because they are constantly changing and as an online business, you need to stay relevant to the public. You can talk with your CT web design company to see if your website can undergo mobile integration or if you should redesign your website altogether and craft the new site to be mobile friendly. 

Low Search Engine Rankings

Your website is important because that is how you generate more leads and increase your sales. There are strategic methods to ensure you rank high on several keywords. So why are you ranking so low on search engines. This can be due to several issues such as vague keywords, uninformative content, paid links and bad hosting, along with numerous others Analyze your keywords and see if they are effective and make sure to sprinkle them into the content without over using the same keywords to avoid penalties. Try to zero in on your problems and take the necessary steps to boost your rankings. 

Old CMS 

According to Hubspot, content management systems (CMS) have come a long way over the years, so today, there’s no excuse for not using one or having an old one that makes it difficult to manage your website content without the use of code. For a variety of reasons, it’s important to keep your content relevant, which means you need to be able to edit it without having to bug a web developer to edit the code. If you can’t easily make content updates to your site, it’s time for a new one.  Though CMS websites do have a higher initial cost, you will save in the long run with the ability to make your own changes to keep people intrigued. 

Outdated Design 

Your design matters because it's the first element a consumer sees to make the choice to venture further or to go to another site. According to The Huffington Post, plenty of research shows that you only have a few brief seconds to attract the user's attention and to convey enough value to engage them. Also, the quality of your website design is a direct reflection on your business image, so it is important that your website looks professional, fresh and contemporary. If your website design is outdate people might feel that your products and services are also. 

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