When you have a website, regardless of what type of business you have, you and your customers both have expectations.
Your website is a great marketing tool, but it is only as good as its performance, content, and ability to function.
Your website is often a potential customer’s first impression of your business. It is a tool that must grab the attention of a visitor within the first few seconds or risk losing their interest forever. Think of your website’s homepage as the receptionist for your business, indicating to all who visit whether their time and money are better spent there or elsewhere.
Today, we’ll take a look at some of the telltale signs that it’s time to revamp that old website and start making the most of your online presence.
Sign #1: Lack Of Traffic And Low Ranking
Spend some time analyzing your competitors.
Google is your best friend for these comparisons. Use ranking tools to compare the ranking of your site to that of your competitors. For a local electrician or plumbing business, for instance,, it makes sense to compare local competitors. Checking Domain Authority (DA), Google Rank, Page Authority (PA), Alexa Rank, MozRank, and more can provide a great deal of information. Many other ranking mechanisms have a basis in traffic as well as other algorithmic features.
Follow the websites that have higher rankings and analyze what seems to be working for them. Things like content, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), and quality images can make a website stand out from the rest, increasing traffic.
Sign #2: Slow Page Loading Speed
If a website has pages that load too slowly, potential customers may give up and look elsewhere. Pages can load slowly for many reasons, such as too many or conflicting plug-ins, an older clunky theme, images that are not optimized for the site, etc.
Users will not stick around if a website loads too slowly. They expect to see the content almost instantaneously. Long gone are the days of dial-up modems giving you plenty of time to make a coffee after you press enter. A mere handful of seconds stands between you engaging your potential customers and sending them off into the arms of a competitor.
Sign #3: You Have Too Few Visitors
Too few visitors can be tied to the traffic issue above. However, a sudden change or reduction in visitors is a red flag. What is causing the sudden change, and can it quickly be resolved? This may require you to check your website’s cache, root around to ensure a plugin hasn’t broken your CSS, or even restore a backup. Each of these situations poses an inconvenience at best, and hours or even days of lost sales at worst.
Sign #4: You Have An Elevated Bounce Rate
The bounce rate is defined by how quickly a user leaves your site—the lower the bounce rate, the better. For example, a 90% bounce rate means the user is leaving without spending time on your site. They aren’t looking around and seeing what you have to offer. As a result, these users are not engaging with what you are providing. A high bounce rate can send up a red flag for Google, penalizing your site for not being relevant to a certain search term and kicking your site down the rankings.
Sign #5: There is a Reduction In Engagement
When a user finds their way to your website, you want them to engage. If the engagement suddenly decreases, there is an issue. Analyze your website metrics to see where you are losing people in the process of navigating your site and focus on streamlining and improving those areas.
This could be an opportunity to add more direct links from your homepage to your most popular products or services, including an easier way for your visitors to contact you, or even developing a simpler sales funnel with unlisted pages. If this seems like a lot of work, well, it can be. You don’t have to do it alone, however. A professional web designer can assist you in streamlining or overhauling your site to cater to your demographic and your industry.
Sign #6: Your Site Isn’t Mobile Friendly
The majority of website traffic now comes from mobile devices. We are in a hectic world and constantly on the go, so the ability to get the intended experience of a website on our phone or tablet has become an expectation.
Users want the information they need to always be available at their fingertips. If they cannot access the information then and there, they will likely click on someone else’s link. The truth is, visitors will not wait to look it up when they get home and have access to a traditional desktop or laptop computer.
Your website should be mobile responsive, meaning that it automatically detects the aspect ratio and resolution of the device accessing it, adjusting all elements accordingly so that they fit and are easily legible and accessible. Google rankings now prefer sites that are mobile-first, which means that if you’re not optimizing for mobile, you’re losing out on search traffic.
Sign #7: Your Competitors Are Making Changes
Keeping an eye on your competitor’s websites is essential. If they are investing in a quality website and imagery, you need to also to remain competitive. If you have one primary competitor, use them as your benchmark. Follow them and see what they do, how they do it, for how long, etc. Always keep an eye on industry best practices and don’t fall behind modern trends in your niche.
Sign #8: You’re Not Using the Hypertext Transfer Protocol over SSL (HTTPS)
HTTPS certificates identify your site as a secure site. As a result, users can expect that their data is protected. In addition, the failure of a site to have the HTTPS certificate will cause Google to lower a site’s ranking. Thus, Google essentially penalizes sites for not protecting users. Thus, the HTTPS protocol adds a level of trust and expectation to your site.
Sign #9: Your Business Direction Has Changed
If the business direction changes significantly, it’s time to create a new website. Not only may your target audience have changed, but any of the keywords you previously ranked for may no longer be relevant to your business. Consider where your business is headed and plan accordingly. Consider all the areas of opportunity presented by your old site and use that information to make your new site work for you.
It’s Time to Make Your Website Work for You
Many businesses are wasting money on marketing and advertising, sending traffic to websites that don’t convert.
At KangoMedia, We design websites and digital marketing campaigns that convert website visitors into leads and paying customers so that you get a positive return on investment.
Clients that work with us often see dramatic results in the form of an increase in website leads, requests for quotes, service calls, and sales. Businesses choose to work with KangoMedia because of our focus on growing their business. We are more than a service provider, we are your partner in growth.
Give us a shout, and let’s talk about your business.