Signs Your Website Design May Need a Redesign?
Perhaps your current website design is okay, your website attracts good traffic and maybe a good conversion rate too. But could you be leaving money on the table? Could you be losing viewership and revenue? Simply because your website may just need to be redesigned?
A redesigned website can be a real game-changer to your business and to boosting revenue. The lifespan of a website is around 3 – 5 years but a redesign should not be based on time nor on trends but on how much your website engages your users. Higher engagement will most likely give a higher conversion rate and revenue. Most certainly, on whether it’s offering value and able to optimize revenue. Here are a few questions to consider on whether your current website design may be outdated and ready for a redesign. Explore how to decide if the questions are applicable to you.
1. Are You Staying Competitive In Your Market?
Your industry sets the trend for your website lifespan. If your website is a travel website, e-commerce website or marketing website that targets consumers (B2C) – travellers, shoppers, clientele, etc. – then it needs to incorporate the latest design trends to keep its brand fresh in order to connect with viewers. Yes, viewers like to see a visual appealing website that keeps makes browsing experience or shopping experience welcoming. A website for B2B purposes – geared to technical, manufacturing, or information-sharing do sometimes take a longer time to change to new trends and design but should remain equally appealing and user-friendly.
How to Decide if It Applies to You? Visit one of your competitor’s website and compare to yours. Maybe you are an industry leader but if you are the last to upgrade your website to latest trend, you could be losing viewers or leaving money on the table. The flipside is true, you could be way ahead of your competitors if you are among the first to redesign and upgrade to the latest trends.
2.Does Your Website Represent Your Brand?
An upgraded website sends the message that your company has a vision for the future, healthy and ready to take on new business. Always keep with technology trends, look and feel and keeping the visual needs of your customers in mind. A company evolves, grows over time and your website, being the window to your business, is the best way to showcase what you are about and who you are. If your website has modern design elements, you are likely to reach and engage your target audience, leaving a strong impression for user to purchase or to return to your website.
How to Decide if It Applies to You? Your business has grown in revenue and size? Are users still using the same method to book your services or purchase a product as they were 3 – 4 years ago? Your brand is about service and great experiences. Are your users able to quickly find what they want? Do they stay on your pages or exit on first entrance to the website? How do you currently measure the effectiveness of your online brand or presence?
3. Does Users Find Your Website Easy to Browse?
Your website is for your users to easily learn more about your product. You have about 4 seconds to make an impression before the user exit your website. Hence, your website’s navigation must be well-organized, your content easy to read or understand and has clear calls to action for the user to proceed to more or next information about your business.
How to Decide if It Applies to You? Scan your website with the following questions in mind:
- Are you able to quickly get to your main services?
- How easily can you find the information you want?
- Can you tell where on the website you are or where you want to go next?
- Can you easily filter to your desired products and compare in a single view?
- Can you clearly see the call-to-actions for a product or service?
- Are you able to easily send a request, purchase or book a service online?
- Are able to easily use your website on a mobile device?
If are unable to find the information you need in a few seconds, you may want to consider a redesign of your site. Otherwise, if you are not losing viewers, you may lose revenue! Whatever your industry, users have less time or patience to browse but has more options for website to view.
4. Does Your Marketing Efforts Needs Revamping?
Your digital marketing efforts should cover search engine optimization (SEO), content marketing, social media elements, appealing visuals and so on. These digital tools should be reflected on your website or have the technology and customization to support email marketing campaigns and other marketing efforts.
How to Decide if It Applies to You? Check if you can easily create the following.
- A Landing Page template for your paid advertisements and email marketing campaigns
- Conversion-focused Products or Services pages
- Blog and news templates for content marketing
- Social media integration with Facebook, Instagram, TripAdvisor, etc.
- SEO-friendly URL structures and tools for keyword optimization
5. Is Your Website Secured?
Website users feel more confident in browsing, purchasing a product or booking a room online if website security is assured. Whether your website is old or newly upgraded, it can be hacked. However, an older website is more likely to be hacked. Older websites rely on old technology and offers a greater chance for security breaches. Make sure your website is secured.
How to Decide if It Applies to You? Does your website use SSL Certificate? This is the one place you should start as having SSL Certification on your website is now a requirement by Google. Otherwise, your website will be flagged as unsafe. Who wants to browse a website deemed unsafe? Are you frequently backing up your data? What about your hosting plan? Are you with a reliable hosting provider? Update your plugins, CMS or other elements as often as is necessary, add security software or plugins.
6. Your Travel Website has No Booking Engine?
Whether you are single property owner or sells multiple properties or in the tours and transportation business, the pickings for users are wide. Your website should have the ability for visitors (new or returning), to search for desired travel packages. Especially if your offer multiple services – accommodation, tours and transportation – having a Booking Engine goes a long way and will certainly boost revenue. The modern travel website should allow users to narrow or filter their search to fit users’ needs with the option to book and pay online.
How to Decide if It Applies to You? From your homepage, can your user quickly select their desired location, room type, number of rooms/persons? What about search for type of transportation needed or preferred activities and tours? Can compare multiple properties with rates on a single search page on your competitors’ website and not yours? Then it’s time to upgrade! These are just a few of the modern filters that guests, travelers want when browsing a travel website.
7. Do You Have New Technology and Functionality
Upgrading your website with modern technology and functions allows users to easily book or purchase your products is clear advantage. Invest in updated tools for e-commerce, booking engine with filters for user to easily narrow their search to fit their needs or add booking forms for customized requests or quotations. More importantly, add a Content Management Systems allowing you to easily change content (images, pricing, new pages) without going to your webmaster.
How to Decide if It Applies to You? If users are not able to quickly filter, summarize or narrow their search on your website but can do so on your competitors’ website, time to evaluate a redesign. Users often stay on, or purchase from, the website that allows them to find what they want easily. Yes, your product may be unique and there may be other factors that influence their decision to book or purchase with you but giving them best option with modern functions, it’s always a win-win.
