Small business owners already have a ton on their plates. Every day, you have to balance…
- Running (and growing!) your biz
- Managing employees
- Keeping up with kids, pets, and spouses
- Plus taking care of yourself!
It’s no surprise that sometimes things fall by the wayside.
One thing that can easily get pushed to the verrrry bottom of the to-do list? Updating your website.
Think about if any of these sound like you:
- Your prices are still showing 2018 costs
- Your location or hours are outdated
- Your services haven’t been updated in two years
- Your team has changed…but the staff page sure hasn’t
Or maybe all your content is up-to-date, but the design just feels…old. Outdated. Out-of-sync with your business today.
If your website is outdated, creating extra work for you, or failing to fill your website goals — it’s time to think about a website redesign.
Related: 5 Things Your Small Business Website Needs
A well-organized and updated small business website can…
- Grow your business
- Engage your ideal audience
- Increase sales
- Save you time and money
In contrast, an outdated website can…
- Confuse visitors
- Discourage potential customers
- Give the wrong impression of your business
- Waste hours of your time
Wondering if it’s time for you to redesign your business website? Here are five signs.
Visitors can’t find important content
Are you constantly fielding calls from customers who can’t find your location or hours?
Do you find yourself responding to the same information over and over — even as you think to yourself, “I know that information is on the website…somewhere…”
Your website should grow your business and make your life easier.
If multiple customers contact you for the same information, it’s time to think about how you can restructure your website to prominently feature that information — ultimately saving you time and energy.
Let’s say you run an online shop.
At least six customers contact you each week to ask about your return policy. Some have specific questions, but most are generic questions about the return period and cost.
Responding to each customer takes you 15 minutes = 1.5 hours per week.
Rather than replying to customers with the same information over and over, you could be using that time to catch up with family. Read a new book. Listen to podcasts. Or just relax!
By adding a return policy to your website, you can gain back that time for yourself.
And remember, just because content is available on your website doesn’t mean it is easy to find. If important information is buried or hard to locate, consider how your website can better meet your needs.
At the very minimum, ask yourself if these crucial pieces of information are up-to-date and easily accessible:
- Address
- Phone/email
- Services and products — with correct prices!
- Awards or new certifications
- Staff/team members
- Portfolio
Of course, your website isn’t just about content. If your design is spot-on and your content is updated, it’s also time to think about how people are visiting your site.
Are they using a laptop, or a phone? In other words, it might be time to redesign your website if…
Your website isn’t mobile-friendly or responsive
Once upon a time, websites were built specifically for desktop computers — but no longer.
Nowadays, websites need to look good on many devices: desktops, laptops, phones, tablets, and more.
Over 50% of all web traffic is done on mobile devices, and mobile traffic is expected to increase by 25% by 2025.
Related: What is Responsive Design and Why Does My Website Need It?
If your website doesn’t look good on mobile, you’re missing out. Your website is losing traffic and leads compared to your competitors.
If a visitor has a hard time accessing your website, it detracts from their experience — and makes it less likely that they form a positive impression of your business.
61% of users are unlikely to return to a site on mobile if they had trouble accessing it — and 40% visit a competitor’s site instead.
If your website isn’t mobile-friendly or responsive, you can’t afford to delay. It’s time to catch up for mobile visitors!
Of course, you may have plenty of website traffic — but still need a website redesign. Especially if…
You attract website traffic, but they don’t convert
Your website should have one goal (yes, just one — read why here). Once you have a goal, it’s time to ask if your audience is fulfilling that goal by converting your audience.
For example…
If your goal is product sales, your site should convert traffic into customers.
If your goal is newsletter signups, your site should convert traffic into subscribers.
If your goal is webinar registrations, your site should convert traffic into registrees.
Does your website bring in traffic but not fulfill your goal? It’s time to look at your conversion process and see what’s going wrong.
Depending on your website platform, you can track web traffic through either your hosting plan or Google Analytics.
If Google Analytics is already setup for your account, take a look at your website traffic. Ask yourself…
- Where is my website traffic coming from?
- Why are they visiting my site?
- How can I guide them to [insert your goal]?
Let’s take a specific example.
Meet Jenny the copywriter.
Jenny knows that it’s crucial to have one specific website goal. She wants to convert 3% of her website visitors into email subscribers.
With this goal in mind, she reviews the last 6 months of her website analytics. She finds that nearly 25% of her website traffic came from an article she posted on a freelancer website.
The article subject, “Ten Reasons to Hire a Copywriter,” tells Jenny that these visitors are likely interested in copywriting and hiring a copywriter.
She adjusts the email signup box on her website to feature targeted language. Instead of a generic message, she starts offering tips and suggestions for finding and working with effective copywriters.
This may seem like a small change, but it results in an increase in website conversions from 1% to 3% — exactly what she was hoping to accomplish.
Of course, to track conversions you’ll need to have website analytics. Without measuring your traffic, you can’t test and optimize your content.
If you don’t have web analytics set up yet, get in touch!
So you have plenty of website traffic, a beautiful site, and great content. Why do people visit your site and promptly leave?
It may be time to reconfigure your site to address the high bounce rate. Read on…
You have a high bounce rate
Bounce rate is the percentage of sessions on your site in which users viewed only a single page.
In other words, the bounce rate refers to the percentage of website traffic that visits your site and immediately “bounces” away.
A high bounce rate means that your traffic viewed a single page, and then left. A high bounce rate isn’t necessarily bad — especially for specific types of websites where pages are meant to be read and shared individually.
A low bounce rate means that people visited your site and stayed to explore your content. In general, your website should aim for a low bounce rate.
By keeping visitors for longer, you increase their familiarity with your content. Plus, a lower bounce rate can make your site more attractive for search engines.
The more visitors you have, and the longer those visitors interact with your site, the better your site will rank in search engines such as Google.
There’s a final reason to redesign your website — and this reason is based less on numbers, more on feelings.
Your feelings.
It’s time to think about a website redesign if…
You’re embarrassed to send people to your website
Have you ever dreaded having a potential client or customer ask, “Do you have a website?”
Do you avoid sending people to your website?
Have ever thought about taking your website address out of your email signature, or off business cards?
Your website should be a funnel for sales and marketing — not a source of embarrassment.
To be frank, when it comes to websites, looks do matter. You need a website that matches your branding, represents your business, and you’re proud to share.
Do an honest appraisal of your website content — or better yet, ask five people to describe your website with 3 adjectives. Do these adjectives come up?
- Clunky
- Outdated
- Static
- Old
- Boring
- Confusing
- Overwhelming
You want a website that impresses your audience and brings in new clients. Depending on your brand, you may be aiming for adjectives such as…
- Clean
- Organized
- Welcoming
- Informative
- Bright
- Engaging
If you’re embarrassed to share your website, it’s time to seriously think about redesigning or updating content.
After all, your website is online 24/7. It should be showing off the best of your products and services at all times!
…
There you have it — five signs that it’s time to redesign your website.
Got any questions or comments? Let me know here!
