Having a website that not only looks great but functions well is extremely important when running a business. According to Stanford University, 75 percent of people judge the credibility of a company based on the design of its website. Simply put, if your website looks outdated or hard to navigate, you’re literally hurting your bottom line.
Here are six reasons it may be time to update your corporate website:
1. It Doesn’t Work Well On Mobile
Many Google searches are performed on a mobile device, and when it comes to local searches, more than half are performed on mobile devices.
Google actually penalizes websites that do not perform well on mobile devices, causing them to rank lower when appearing in someone's Google search results. If your site has not been optimized for mobile or mobile responsive, you are limiting the amount of visitors to your site.
On the plus side, according to Econsultancy, 62 percent of companies that designed a website with mobile in mind saw increased sales. Going responsive only makes sense.
2. It’s In Flash
If your site’s still in Flash, we hate to tell you, but it’s been outdated for the past 5-plus years. Not only do iPhone and iPad not support Flash, but search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo can’t read it, which means it’s terrible for search engine optimization.
According to a CEI Survey, 86 percent of buyers will pay more for a better customer experience, which means having a strong user experience on your site could actually mean more revenue for you.
3. Your Search Engine Rankings Are Low
Search engine algorithms have changed quite a bit over the years, so if your organic search engine rankings are low, it could mean it’s time for an update.
If the content on your site wasn’t written with current SEO trends in mind, or it’s buried within Flash elements or images, it may be time for an update.
According to Search Engine Journal, 93 percent of online experiences begin with a search engine. Creating your site with SEO in mind will ensure that potential customers can find you online.
4) Your Visitors Aren’t Sticking Around Or Converting
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.
By having both your audience personas and your goals in mind before your redesign and working with your design and development team to map your site design accordingly, you’ll undoubtedly see an increase in qualified traffic and leads.
5. It Just Looks Outdated
Websites are constantly improving. Today, it’s all about clean design and easy navigation. If your site looks outdated, it’s time for a redesign.
In a ResearchGate study, 94 percent of people say that websites with good designs are more trustworthy. It’s important that your customers and potential customers trust you, and a strong redesign can help make that happen.
6. You Can’t Easily Make Content Updates
Content management systems (CMS) have come a long way over the years, so today there’s no excuse for not using one to easily 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.