8 Telltale Signs You Should Change Your Web Design

Change Your Web Design! Especially if it’s past its time! In today’s digital world, websites are a company’s strongest marketing tool. Think of it as a virtual storefront – one that has now become as important as your physical store, if not more.

Your website is essentially the face of your brand – a salesperson that sells and promotes your products or services online 24/7; it can either make or break you, depending on how you use and cultivate it.

Is your website in dire need of an update?

These ten glaring signs will tell you it’s time to change your web design:

1. Outdated look and functions

Developers always stress the importance of a modern website because appearance and functionality matter most when it comes to web design. A site that looks like it’s stuck in a bygone digital era could be a straight-up red flag for many users and affect the credibility of your brand.

Like fashion trends, your website needs updating, too, to keep pace with the latest design and UX improvements. Cluttered, static, and glittering web pages are a thing of the past; fresh, organized, and modern designs are in.

When was the last time you updated your website? If you can’t remember anymore, then it’s high time for an overhaul.

2. High Bounce Rate

Bounce rate is the percentage of single-page visitors to your website. In a nutshell, it’s the percentage of people who click onto your site and leave almost immediately, without visiting pages other than the one they landed on.

There are several reasons why visitors “bounce,” either they didn’t find what they’re looking for, lost interest, or found your website too slow, too outdated, too difficult to use, or lacking the right website structure.

Your website only has a few seconds to capture the interest of your visitors and convince them to stay. A website redesign can help make your website faster, more appealing, and easier to navigate; thus, solving the issues that lead to high bounce rates.

3. Slow Load Time

Nothing kills a consumer’s interest quicker than slow load time. Nearly half of web users won’t stick around long enough on websites that take more than three seconds to load. This is bad news, especially if you’re running an e-commerce store.

While the cause of slow websites can be difficult to diagnose (sometimes, the problem is on the user’s end), some common reasons are bulky files, inefficient coding, lots of plug-ins or redirects, and underperforming servers.

If your website has most of these issues, a redesign would be the most efficient way to change or get rid of the elements that slow it down.

4. Poor Website Traffic and Lead Conversion

Have you been experiencing significant drops in traffic and leads? Do you have a low percentage of returning visitors? Or is your website failing to convert website traffic? It could be that users are having a hard time finding what they need/want on your website, or it simply isn’t captivating enough.

If your website hasn’t been hitting target leads and conversions for a while now, you may want to check and update your web design. Nowadays, it’s not enough for a website to be informative; it has to instantly capture the user’s attention and provide whatever it is that the consumer is looking for most conveniently and seamlessly.

5. Poor UX Design and Navigation

 User experience is critical to the success of a website. UX design and navigation can affect nearly every aspect of a website’s performance – from search rankings and bounce rates to how effectively a website converts visitors.

For a website to deliver a quality user experience, it must be simple to navigate, contain relevant and engaging content, and have clear call-to-actions – all while maintaining a clean and visually appealing design.

You should see that even first-time visitors of your website can easily navigate through web pages and find specific content within a few mouse clicks; else, they might not continue engaging with your business. 

6. Difficult to Update on Your Own

Consistently updating your content is one of the surest ways to boost your search engine ranking and keep the traffic coming. Most modern websites operate on platforms that also double as CMS, so it’s easy to make small changes on your own and optimize content when necessary.

If your website is built on a platform that’s difficult to work with and requires a third party to perform even the smallest updates, you might want to seriously consider migrating your website or building a new one in an easy-to-use content management system (CMS). This will make website maintenance more convenient and save you time and money as you won’t have to wait for and rely on a web developer for simple tasks.

7. Not Optimized for Mobile

Mobile traffic makes up more than half of the global website visits. And with Google’s mobile-first strategy in place, mobile-friendly websites are now the norm.

Have you tried accessing your website with a mobile device? Does it look good? Is it responsive? Is it readable and fully functional? If you’ve answered NO to any of the following questions, then your website needs a new design.

A website that is not optimized for mobile devices is missing out on a lot of potential customers.

8. Branding Disconnect

Brands grow over time, and their messaging evolves along with it. Has your brand experienced some major changes over the past years? Have such changes been reflected on your website?

Your website is the most accessible point of contact between you and customers. Ensure that everything about it – the design, the content, and other elements – reflects your brand’s message and speaks to your customer’s pain points. If your website does not seem to match the image that your brand is trying to portray, it’s definitely time to look into a redesign.

Your website creates most people’s first impression of your brand, so make sure it’s designed correctly and optimized through the best SEO services.