In the world we live in, where the internet plays an ever-increasing role with each day that passes, any business that does not have a website is allowing its competition to have a huge advantage over it. Now, if you are reading this and thinking, ‘My business is not at risk, it has a website’, you might want to take a pause for a further thought and ask yourself, ‘Is my website performing as I want it to?’
Unless the answer to that question is a resounding ‘Yes!’, then it might be time to consider giving your website an overhaul with a complete redesign. At Tribeca Media we have clients come to us each day, and when we ask them a series of questions to establish how well their website is performing, they soon realise that they have been losing ground, and more importantly, revenue, as it is failing in many ways.
Now, this is not the fault of the website, just as it is not the fault of a car that is not maintained properly and then breaks down. The difference here is that while a well-maintained car might last up to 20 years, a website is often past its prime performance within just 2 years of it going live. How can you tell? Well, ask the following questions of your website and the answers will confirm whether a redesign is necessary or not.
#1: Does It Look Dated And Of Another Era?
Such is the speed at which the internet evolves, we are often talking about months instead of years, in terms of how long it takes for something online to become ‘past its sell-by date’. As for websites, not only do the visual design elements change rapidly, but the functionality of them quickly evolves.
If you look at websites that were built at the turn of the century, at the time they were seen as groundbreaking, but today, they seem like relics from the past. As for your website, if you look at it and then compare it with websites that have recently been launched or redesigned, especially within your niche, then you will soon be able to tell if it is fast becoming dated and in need of a redesign.
#2: Does Your Website Analytics Show Visitors Are Leaving Your Website Quicker Than Before?
One of the most obvious signs that a website is losing its lustre is when your website statistics and data show that when visitors land on your website, they are spending less time on it, or worse, they are clicking away immediately. Not only does this mean its effectiveness is waning, possibly due to outdated imagery, old content, or simply that it looks like an old, tired website, but it has a detrimental impact on the number of sales your website is likely to create.
#3: Has Its Search Engine Rankings Begun To Fall?
Even if your SEO is generally good, another tell-tale sign that a website is slowly but surely diminishing in its usefulness, is when its rankings on search engines such as Google start to fall. There can be many reasons for this but the points we made about visitor behaviours in the previous section are certainly going to cause Google to recalculate where your website ranks when it sees visitors click away and spend less time on your website.
Also, if you have not updated your website recently, with new content, for example, then Google will take the view that users coming to your website are not going to be seeing or reading new, quality content so again they will tend to push down your rankings. In addition, other website owners who granted you the opportunity to have backlinks from their website to yours may take them down when they see your website is aging and less appealing to their followers.
#4: Have Conversions On Your Website Dropped Significantly?
One huge clue that your website is in need of a major redesign is when the conversion rate on it falls significantly. For each business, what constitutes a conversion might differ with some websites designed to generate sales and others where a conversion is simply visitors contacting the business for further information, a quotation, or a call back.
Regardless of what a conversion means for your business, if that number is falling, the prime suspect is your website, especially if its conversion rates when it was a new website were at a satisfactory level. Bear in mind, conversions are a key part of your sales funnel, and if they are diminishing then so are your customer numbers, your revenue, and ultimately, your profits.
#5: Have You Seen And Heard Negative Comments About Your Website?
Many of Tribeca Media’s clients tell us that the final nail in the coffin of their old website was an increasing number of prospects and customers who were making negative comments about it. That feedback will often range from complaints that they found the website difficult to navigate, that the information on it was out of date, or simply that they found it unappealing and thus presented a poor image of the business. What does your website say about you?
Benefits To Your Business Of A New, Redesigned Website
Whilst many of Tribeca Media’s clients come to us having answered one or more of those questions as ‘Yes’, (for some it is all 5!), meaning their website is in need of a redesign, they then want to know what the benefits would be of having a redesigned website. This is perfectly understandable, as it is one thing to know what is going wrong and what the remedy is, but you will also want to know what the advantages of having a redesigned website are, so here they are.
Improved Website Functionality
With any website redesign, the programming and coding is updated to the latest versions and the plugins required for the many functions on your website are now the current versions. This not only makes your website operate better, and load faster, but it also improves the user experience for visitors.
Website Security Is Enhanced
One major concern for older websites is that their security is out of date, and as such, the website is more at risk of being hacked. The consequences of this can range from the inconvenience of it being down for an hour or two, to the data of all your customers being stolen. A redesigned website will have the latest and most robust security to minimise any risk.
It Better Supports Your Online Marketing
Hopefully, you are marketing your business online, using some of the many online marketing channels that are available to you such as paid ads, social media, and email marketing, for example. With a redesigned website those marketing efforts are supported far better than if the traffic created is being sent to an old, jaded website with zero appeal.
Branding & Trust In Your Company Improves
A business’s image in the eyes of others might not be everything online, but it does count. If you have a redesigned website, people notice it, and rather than complain and think negatively about your business they are more likely to be impressed to the point of recommending to others that they visit it.
Google Boosts Your Search Engine Rankings
You will recall all the reasons we gave for Google lowering your ranking due to your website aging, well the exact opposite is true if your website is redesigned and up to date. Visitors will spend longer on the site, other website owners will happily add backlinks to your website, and if all the on-site SEO is in place, which it should be on a redesigned website, all of which ticks the right boxes when Google is calculating your search engine ranking.
Conversion Rates Improve
One of the primary goals of a redesigned website is to improve conversion rates, which invariably it will do. This will mean different actions on different websites with respect to the specific business model, but whether it is more on-site purchases, requests for call backs or simply entering an email address, they all improve with a new website.
You Move Ahead Of Your Competition
Every business has competition, especially if it is operating at a local level. Any advantage you can gain over those competitors is critical to outperforming them, and one of the most effective ways of doing so is having a new, redesigned website that makes theirs look like it was built by an amateur in their spare time.
You Have An Uplift In Revenue And Profits
The ultimate benefit of having a new, redesigned website is that with all of the above benefits coming to fruition, the number of prospects increases as they like what they see on your websites. As such, they are more likely to become paying customers which obviously increases your revenue, and profits.
Website Redesigns By Tribeca Media
You have many choices as to how you have your website redesigned, but please do not leave it to amateurs. Your website is a critical part of your business and its redesign should only be placed in the hands of professionals.
At Tribeca Media our dedicated team of experienced programmers, coders, graphic designers copywriters, and content writers know what it takes to transform a website from a dull, underperforming one, into something that can literally take your business to the next level of success.
If you would like to find out more about how Tribeca Media can create your new, redesigned website, or have any questions about us redesigning your website, then please get in touch via our ‘How Can We Help You?’ page which you find by clicking this link: https://www.slinkywebdesign.com.au/contacts