Did you know that coming to this article means that there’s something wrong about your website and deep down you know it? Nope, we’re not psychics, but more often than not, a website owner will know that something is wrong if something unusual happens like losing on sales, increase of unsatisfied clients, site slowness or bugs, etc.
In some cases, it’s just a problem with your website address, which means a change of domain name might just be what you need. If people don’t care for your name or just plain can’t remember it because it’s long and unmemorable, then start there.
In any case, here are 5 of the most important signs that will mean that your website needs an upgrade or even complete overhaul.
A weak user experience. InVision revealed that almost 90% of visitors to a website won’t come back if they have a “bad experience.” “Bad experience” can mean a lot of things, for some, it means web pages take too long to load, or a site’s confusing navigation, or links that don’t work.
Internet users are famous for being notoriously impatient. Most of us don’t want to wait for something on a site that’s supposed to be working. To know if a user experience on your site is working as expected, you should try it yourself. You can also ask your customers, either informally or through a customer satisfaction survey.
Unresponsive website. More than half of all internet searches are through mobile devices like smartphones and tablets. Sites that aren’t optimized for these devices means turning off a lot of prospective customers and even losing a lot of business. This is a no-brainer a non-mobile-friendly website just won’t cut it.
Marketing goals aren’t being met. Your website must be more than a digital picture book because it must be achieving key marketing goals. Say you have a goal of generating 1,000 new product sales every month, but you’re only generating half that amount, you could blame your website. Your site needs to have relevant content offers and send leads to landing pages where they will be converted. To achieve your objectives, be brave to make the changes necessary to ensure it does.
Your website didn’t adapt to your new business. Every business is dynamic. If yours has recently changed, your customer base has grown, or your goals have shifted, or perhaps you’ve added new products and eliminated some of the old ones – these means that your website needs to accurately reflect what your business currently is, which might entail a change of domain name to put everything in the right starting point and direction.
Outdated functionalities. If your website makes use of third-party tools to use key functionalities, you must update them regularly. For instance, you might use tools for e-commerce, or for social media feeds. If newer, better versions of these exist, you need to beat your competitors to it so your site won’t look weak by comparison. Ensure that all the tools on your site are working, that they don’t slow down site speed, and that they’re updated.
Indeed, having a working website that does the things you expected of it is one component of a comprehensive digital strategy. Remember to start from the basics – your goals, domain name, and strategies to achieve those goals.
