Every year, businesses spend anywhere from a few hundred dollars to tens of thousands of dollars designing or redesigning their websites.
Has it been a while since you’ve invested in designing a website or refreshing your existing website design? If this is the case, you could be negatively impacting your business.
If you think it’s time for you to invest in an updated website, keep reading. Explained below are the benefits of a website redesign, as well as the telltale signs that you need to begin the website redesign process.
Why Website Design Matters
Some business owners are under the impression that, as long as they produce high-quality products or offer great services to their customers, the appearance and functionality of their website doesn’t really matter. That’s definitely not the case, though.
If you want your business to continue growing and standing out from the competition, a solid online presence is a must. Here are some of the key reasons why you need to think seriously about whether it’s time to redesign the website for your company:
Make a Great First Impression
First, a great looking website helps you make a great first impression on potential customers and clients. You only have a few seconds to have an impact on people visiting your site for the first time, so you ought to make it count.
If your website appears well-designed and has a professional look to it, people are going to be much more interested in purchasing what you’re selling. They’ll also be more inclined to visit the website again in the future.
Boost Your Search Engine Ranking
Website design isn’t just about aesthetics. It also can improve your business’s search engine rankings. The better your rankings are, the easier it will be for people to find you online when they’re looking for companies that offer products or services like yours.
These days, it can be very tricky to get a high search engine ranking. Because of this, you should be willing to do whatever is necessary to elevate your spot, including redesigning your website.
Provide Great Customer Service
Many business owners don’t realize that their website is actually a customer service tool. When it’s well-designed and easy to navigate, it helps customers accomplish what they came there to do with more ease.
Whether they’re looking for information or hoping to purchase a product, good web design should help them meet those goals. This, in turn, will keep them coming back for more in the future.
Build Trust
Great web design can also help you to build trust with the people who visit you online.
If your website seems professional and tells them important information about your company, visitors are going to want to do business with you more often. If you have a website that looks outdated or shady in some way, they may choose to go elsewhere (such as your competitors’ websites).
Gain a Competitive Advantage
Speaking of competitors, having a modern and fresh web design can help you stand out from the crowd.
If you’re struggling to differentiate yourself from your competition, consider a website redesign. Leveling up your online presence will help more people find you and will make it easier for you to gain an advantage over other businesses selling the same products or services as you.
Create Consistency
Finally, refreshing your website design can help you create more consistency across all your branding platforms. Consistency is key when it comes to building brand recognition. Without it, it’s harder for people to remember your brand from others on the market.
A lack of consistency can also make it harder for you to build trust with your audience. For example, if they click on an ad that is designed one way and get taken to a website that looks totally different, they might think they’re in the wrong place and click away before they can learn more about what you have to offer.
Is It Time for a Website Redesign?
Okay, you’re convinced that redesigning your business’s website can provide value. How do you know whether you actually need a website redesign, though? Start by asking yourself these questions:
Does Your Site Take a Long Time to Load?
In 2020, slow page loading times can be a death sentence for a website (and a business). That might seem a little dramatic, but it’s really not. If it takes more than a couple of seconds for your web pages to load, shoppers are going to be more likely to get bored and go elsewhere.
Even if they’ve shopped with you in the past and like your products or services, people are impatient. They don’t want to wait for your site to load when they can go somewhere else and make their purchase faster.
It’s great if people are sharing your products or website content on social media. How does it look, though?
Do the posts showcase what your business has to offer, or are they poorly cropped or visually unappealing? If they don’t look as nice as you’d like, a website redesign could prove to be very helpful.
Is Your Site Mobile-Friendly?
These days, more people access websites from their smartphones than ever before.
How does your website look when someone visits it from a smartphone browser? Is the content cramped and hard to read? Do images get distorted?
If this is the case, people are going to be less inclined to check out your website when they’re on the go and looking for products or services like the ones you sell. This can lead to a significant drop in your business’s sales.
Do You Have a High Bounce Rate?
Bounce rate refers to the amount of time people spend on your website. If people are clicking away within a few seconds of accessing the site, you’ll have a higher bounce rate. The goal is to get it as low as possible, and redesigning your website could help.
When you redesign your website to make it more user-friendly and visually appealing, people will want to stick around and check out what you’re selling. This lowers your bounce rate and helps to boost your search engine rankings at the same time. Of course, when people hang around longer, they’re also more interested in making a purchase, which further benefits your company.
Have Your Competitors Redesigned Their Websites?
Again, let’s look at your competitors. Are all of them redesigning their websites? If so, that might be a sign for you to think about redesigning yours as well.
Even if you don’t notice any problems with it, if everyone else is paying for a redesign, there might be something customers are looking for that you (and they) are missing.
Does Your Site Look Outdated?
Be honest about how your site looks. Does it look like a 2020 website? Does it look like it was created in the 90s or early 2000s?
If your website looks outdated, even if all the information is current and it’s easy to navigate, people might be less inclined to trust it. They might also think they’re in the wrong place and look elsewhere for a different company like yours.
Is Your Security At Risk?
Keeping your website up to date and investing in a redesign can also help to improve your security. If you’re worried about data breaches or other security issues that could bankrupt your business, consider redesigning your website. This will help you take advantage of the latest security features and make sure you and your customers (and their data) are protected from hackers and other potential threats.
Have Your Search Engine Rankings Dropped?
As you now know, website design plays a key role in search engine rankings. If you’re no longer ranking as highly as you once did, this could be an indicator that your design is holding you back. This is especially true if a competitor that recently redesigned their website is suddenly outranking you.
Has Your Business Changed?
Finally, think about whether or not your business has changed? Have you used a logo generator tool to create a new logo? Have you changed the products or services you offer?
If you’ve done work to rebrand or improve your company, make sure your website reflects that in its design and the way it functions.
Improve Your Website Design Today
Keeping up with website design trends can be tricky, so there’s no need to feel embarrassed or ashamed if you haven’t had a website redesign in a while. If any of the signs listed above resonated with you, though, it’s time to go ahead and start making over your existing website.
It might take a lot of work and resources to do so now. When it’s over, though, you’ll have a much more attractive and more functional website that helps you to grow your business and boost your bottom line.
If you want to learn more about website design or online marketing, check out some of the other resources on our site today.
