Your website is your 24 hours a day / 7 days a week business’ communication tool, and it is important to regularly review your site to ensure that it is addressing your business goals while conveying your brand message to your customers.
Web design trends and best practices are constantly changing as innovations in technology and design provide audiences with a greater appetite for online consumption. This article will provide answers to the key questions to consider as you ask yourself if your website might be ready to be redesigned.
Are you uncomfortable sharing your website URL?
If the answer is yes, I will save you the time of reading any further and let you know it is time for a website redesign. Your website is your online digital persona and if you are making excuses or giving out warnings when sharing your website address then you already know the answer. According to Stanford University, 75% of people judge the credibility of a company based on the design of its website. You would not think to pass out old print collateral to your customers because you know that print collateral has a shelf life, but for some reason with our websites we adopt the notion that something is better than nothing, when in truth, our current website could be harming our brand.
According to Stanford University, 75% of people judge the credibility of a company based on the design of its website.
How often should you be thinking about a website redesign?
There is no one-size-fits-all answer to that question but if it has been over two to three years you may not be taking advantage of the changes available in modern browsers or the shifts in SEO (Search Engine Optimization) that would help you stand out against your competitors. According to HubSpot a well designed site can improve the time someone spends on your site by 84%. To gain insight on your website design and user experience, seek independent opinions from unbiased sources.
Does your website feel outdated?
Do you sometimes wonder if your websites design and layout feel like it is from a previous generation? That is because design trends are constantly evolving to align with user expectations and technology. For example, as monitors get larger (and less expensive) and computers are able to support higher resolutions the trend in web design has shifted to making greater use of screen real estate with wider layouts, oversized headlines with larger body fonts, and bigger images or collage style images. Additionally, incorporating modern design elements can enhance user engagement and satisfaction.
According to a study by Akamai, 39% of users will stop engaging with a website if images will not load or take too long to load.
Is your website mobile-friendly?
This means that the layout, images, and other elements of the website adjust and reformat themselves automatically to fit the screen size of the device being used. By implementing responsive design principles, websites can provide a better user experience and reach a wider audience. At the end of 2023 mobile devices made up over 50% of global website traffic. Because accessibility to high-speed mobile access is so high Google prioritizes mobile-friendly websites in its search results, especially for searches performed on mobile devices. This means optimizing your website for mobile devices is more important than ever.
At the end of 2023 mobile devices made up over 50% of global website traffic.
Does your site follow ADA guidelines?
Is the text, images, videos, and audio on your website accessible to users with disabilities? Updating your website to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) provides an inclusive and accessible experience for all your visitors. Non-compliance with ADA guidelines can lead to legal issues and may result in penalties, fines, and damage to your brand’s reputation. If ADA and WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) are new acronyms to your vocabulary, then it’s definitely time for a website redesign.
Has your website traffic decreased?
An outdated website with a tired design, images that are not optimized or provide poor user experience (UX) will see a consistent decline in site traffic. It is not uncommon for websites to take on a Frankenstein layout as unplanned content is shoehorned into a website design. Unfortunately when this happens, these updates, more often than not, compromise the user experiences by crowding navigation, displacing content, or overall causing the primary message to be lost. According to a study by Akamai, 39% of users will stop engaging with a website if images will not load or take too long to load. This means a websites performance is crucial for keeping users engaged. Additionally, in an article published by Search Engine Journal, Google implies that a sites appearance can directly impact how the site is ranked which can have a direct effect on the amount of traffic coming to your site.
Is it difficult to make content changes?
Having an outdated website is sometimes brought on by how the site was originally built. If you struggle to make content changes because your site was not built in a Content Management System (CMS) or the CMS that is was built in requires a Masters Degree in Programing to use, a website redesign with a user friendly CMS like WordPress would allow you to maintain, update, and develop timely blog like content that will keep your website relevant to your core audience.
The bottom line about website redesign.
If your uncomfortable about sharing your website address or if your website is not mobile-friendly, then you should definitely take the steps to implement a complete website redesign. If the other indicators point to a website redesign, but you’re not quite ready for that investment, here are some things you can do that have the potential to carry over into your eventual redesign:
- Reevaluate your Content and SEO Strategy
- Update your Photography
- Audit and Implement ADA Changes
- Upgrade to HTTPS
If you’re unsure about the status of your site and where your site falls related to these key indicators, consider engaging with a professional website development agency who could provide guidance on getting the most out of your web presence.
