Is Your Website Looking a Little Dated?
If you had an office that you neglected to take care of, before long it would be in need of repairs, and a clean up. If left long enough, it would probably end up with broken windows and covered in graffiti! It certainly wouldn’t be an inviting and appealing place for clients and customers to visit. It’s really not that much different for a website. Building a website and then failing to maintain it is likely to end up losing you business.
If you haven’t had a review of your website for a while, or if it’s not generating interest and attracting customers, it might be time to consider a revamp.
Signs that your website might need some attention
The purpose of a business website is usually to gain business – if your traffic has dropped off, or your sales are down, it might be for one of these reasons:
- Poor website design. Your site might be slow to load, cluttered, clunky, or difficult to navigate. If this is the case, contact a web design team to discuss removing elements that slow page speed, and overhaul your design. If you still have pages for discontinued products on your website for example, or you haven’t updated your services page to reflect your current offering, then it’s time for a refresh. Make sure your pages aren’t too image heavy, and remove unnecessary clutter.
- The site does not clearly and succinctly explain your business. People are time-poor these days and don’t have the patience to scroll down to find out what your business is actually offering. If you don’t make the purpose of each page clear at the top, visitors will likely go elsewhere. Keep your information succinct, and relevant to your target audience.
- Your website has not had fresh content added in a long time and is ranking poorly. Search engines look for new content regularly updated. If you want to get noticed online and to rank well, you will need to regularly add fresh, relevant and interesting content to your website. Choose a schedule for updating your content, whether weekly, or monthly, and stick to it. Also take time to discuss SEO with your web developer to work out how you can improve your search engine rankings. Search engines constantly change the algorithms however if you play by the rules, you should continue to rank well.
- Your website is not keeping up with current trends. Ignoring the need for your site to be mobile-friendly, for example, could result in you losing valuable traffic. The same applies to social media – I’m not suggesting you must be actively involved, however you should make it easy for those that are to share your information online.
If you do not have access to make basic changes to the content in your website, you need to speak to your web developer about getting a simple content management system. This will allow you to add new content, and manage your website.
The value of a well maintained website
Regularly reviewing your website to keep it up-to-date and meeting your customers’ needs is essential. A neglected website can cost you business, and it just looks unprofessional. It can make you look behind the times, or unwilling to invest in providing quality.
At Omnific Design, we love giving new life to dated websites. Give us a call to discuss our web design Williamstown services if your website could do with a freshen up.
