For most people, their first impression of your business is your website and they will judge your credibility almost immediately from the quality of your web design. Today, it’s no longer acceptable to simply have a website, it has to be well designed, stand out from your competition and be easy to navigate. If your website is starting to get over the hill you should act fast and hire an expert web design agency, you could be losing countless customers every day. Here are 7 signs that you need a new website.
1: Your Website Is Slow
There’s nothing quite like a slow loading website to send potential customers running for the hills. There are many websites out there that look fantastic and in theory they have great usability, but in reality they are just too slow. This can be for a wide variety of reasons like background videos, large images and much more but the important thing is that no matter what the reason for a slow loading website, it sends users packing. In 2009, an Aksimet study found that when users had to wait 2 seconds for a page to load, around 40% would leave the site due to the delay. In 2017 users patience hasn’t grown since 8 years ago, if anything it’s diminished. So if your website takes over 2 seconds to load, it’s time for a new website.
2: It’s Difficult To Update Basic Information
Being able to quickly update information and images without having to contact a web developer is a must these days. If your site is overly complicated to use it can end up draining a large portion of your day, in some cases even when all you want to do is update a background image. If your website is difficult to update you should rethink your web design strategy and come up with something new.
3: Your Site Is Hard To Navigate
If your site is difficult to navigate, often users will simply give up before finding what they were looking for and without making a purchase or filling out a form. A non user friendly UI is one of the quickest ways to turn a potential user off your company and it leads to staggeringly high bounce rates. If you find it difficult to navigate or have gotten any complaints about the effort it takes for a user to find what they are looking for, you need to develop a new website. Every time someone leaves your website without taking an action, you are missing out on a potential customer.
4: Doesn’t Work Well On Mobile
If your website doesn’t look and work well on mobile you really are leaving a lot of customers on the table. This is getting more and more true each day with mobile traffic continuing to outpace desktop and tablet. A fully mobile optimised site should look and work great on every type of device. This is a trend that has been reflected heavily in web design in recent years, If your mobile site isn’t up to scratch then you are already behind your competition.
5: You Have A High Bounce Rate
Bounce rate is the percentage of users who leave your website after seeing just one page and it can be caused by a huge amount of factors such as aesthetics, speed and much more. Bounce rates differ by industry, but as a general rule if your bounce rate is sitting at around 60% or more, you should be thinking about creating a new website.
6: Your Website Looks Old Fashioned
Like everything, web design trends change over time. A well designed website can and should last for years without showing it’s age too much, however at a certain point it’s time to call it quits. Take an honest look at your website’s design and compare it to other sites both inside and outside your industry. If it doesn’t measure up well, then that is the impression your customers are getting. You should contact a web design agency and start planning your new site.
7: You’re Embarrassed By Your Website
If you are one of the many out there that is embarrassed to give out your URL for fear of people seeing your website, you’re not alone and we can help. Your should be proud of your website and be happy to show it off to as many people as possible. Being embarrassed by your website is one of the most clear cut signs you can get that you need a website redesign.
There are so many issues that can be solved by a solid web design solution. If your website has slow load times, you find it difficult to update information or can’t do it at all without a developer, your site is hard to navigate, it doesn’t work well on mobile, you have a high bounce rate, your site looks old fashioned or if you are just flat out embarrassed by it you need a new website.
Book your free web design consultation with 3B1 Media & Marketing today.