7 Signs Your Website Needs A Redesign

Your website is often the first impression a customer has of your business. When it falls behind, the cost is rarely obvious: visitors simply leave and buy elsewhere. If any of the signs below sound familiar, a redesign is probably overdue.

1. It looks dated

Design trends move on, and visitors notice. A site that looks several years old makes the business behind it look out of touch, however good the service is.

2. It is slow to load

People do not wait for slow pages, and search engines take speed into account when ranking. Heavy images, old themes and too many plugins are the usual causes.

3. It does not work well on a phone

A large share of web traffic is mobile. If visitors have to pinch, zoom or hunt for the menu, most will give up. Google also evaluates the mobile version of your site first.

4. Visitors do not turn into enquiries

Plenty of traffic but few leads usually means the site is not guiding people. Unclear messaging, missing calls to action and long forms are common culprits.

5. You cannot update it yourself

If every text change needs a developer, the content goes stale. A modern content management system lets your team edit pages, add services and publish posts without technical help.

6. It no longer reflects your business

Businesses change. New services, a new audience or a refreshed brand all need to show on the website, otherwise it is describing a company that no longer exists.

7. It does not rank in search

Poor structure, thin content and technical errors keep a site out of the results. Sometimes these can be fixed in place; often they are built into the way the site was made.

Redesign or refresh?

Not every problem needs a full rebuild. If the structure and platform are sound, a visual refresh and content update may be enough. If the site is slow, hard to edit and built on outdated technology, starting again is usually faster and cheaper in the long run.

What a good redesign includes

• A clear goal for the site and for each page.
• A sitemap and wireframes agreed before design begins.
• Responsive design tested on real devices.
• Content rewritten for your customers, not just moved across.
• Redirects from old URLs so you keep your search rankings.
• Training so your team can manage the new site.

Thinking about a new website? See how we approach web design and development, compare packages on our pricing page, or get in touch for an honest opinion on your current site.