The thing is, having a website used to be regarded as a luxury. Only the largest, most profitable businesses could afford to have a website in the beginning, but over time, that has changed dramatically. Today, businesses without a website are few and far between.
Though it’s possible to run a business without a website, we don’t recommend it. We also don’t recommend settling for a crappy website. There, we said it. There are tons of them out there (crappy websites) taking up space on the internet, and making people cringe when they land on them.
Many of them exist because of some business owner’s valiant attempt to get their name out into the universe – back in the 1990s – and claim they haven’t had the time or money to invest in a website redesign. News flash – It’s 2018; if you haven’t updated your website in a decade or two, you’re well overdue for a redesign. In fact, even if your website was redesigned in 2010, it may need a complete overhaul.
Unfortunately, even websites that have been redesigned within the last year or two may still require some minor or major tweaks. Are you avoiding redesigning your site? Stop avoiding doing one of the best things you could do for your business this year. Why? We have a list a mile long, but we’ll try to cut to the chase so you can get on with your day.
Common Reasons for a Website Redesign
There are so many reasons for a website redesign, and we couldn’t possibly cover them all here. So, we’ll talk about some of the most common reasons, which include:
It’s Time for a Rebrand.
Is your brand messaging lacking, or worse – non-existent? Often when businesses get started, they don’t put the time and energy into clearly defining their brand before they get their website up and running. The result is a wishy-washy brand identity, at best.
The best way to re-establish your true brand is with a complete website redesign. If you have core colors and fonts that your customers recognize you by, you may want to incorporate those into the new design, so your customers aren’t left wondering who you are. However, it’s okay to change up your brand imaging – as long as you communicate with existing customers throughout the process.
Does your website need a new look and feel – one that resonates with your target audience and your company’s true purpose? It may be time to take a step back and redefine your brand.
You Need Better Functionality.
Does your website do just enough? Maybe it provides most of the features you need to operate efficiently, but could it do better? If your website functionality is lacking, there are many ways to fix this. Sometimes it may involve choosing a different platform altogether.
For example, if you’re using a basic website creation platform like Wix, it may be time to upgrade to WordPress or Drupal. The features and capabilities of these platforms are far better suited for a growing business than some of the more elemental platforms out there.
Do you want to operate more efficiently? It may be time to switch your website over to a platform that can support all of your business needs and more.
You’re Going in a New Direction.
If you’ve been in business for some time, and are looking to change some of your offerings or target a different audience, you may need to change the way your website is designed. For example, if your current business model primarily targets consumers, but you’re looking begin working with other businesses as well, you’ll need to change the way your website is laid out. You’ll need to redo your navigation so that both of your target audiences can find the information they need quickly and intuitively.
This may require working with a different website platform, or simply working with a website developer to redesign your navigation and add content geared towards your new audience. In addition to the changes you’ll be making to your website, you may also need to update any other marketing collateral you may have – both digital and print.
Are you changing or expanding your customer base? You’ll need to update your website to match your new goals.
You’re Going Mobile (Finally!)
If your website isn’t mobile-friendly, you’re overdue for a website update. Mobile users are taking over the internet, and if you’re not catering to them, you’re not reaching a huge percentage of your potential customers. If you’re ready to bite the bullet and go mobile, a website redesign is in order.
The good news is, it shouldn’t be too big of a project to simply update your website for mobile users. However, you may find when you begin the project that there are several other areas of your website that have been neglected and could use some improvement. While you don’t have to address every aspect of your website at once, it may be a good idea to kill a few birds with one stone, since you’re updating your website anyway.
Going mobile? You might as well fix other areas of your website that aren’t performing well at the same time.
Your Website’s Stuck in the 90’s
We hope this isn’t the case with your website, but we do see it often, so we had to include it. If your website design looks like it was created in the late 90’s and hasn’t been updated since there are generally three things that may be the cause:
- It actually hasn’t been updated since the late 90’s
- You’ve been trying to make updates yourself, and aren’t very tech savvy.
- You hired the WRONG website design and development firm to work on your website.
What does an extremely outdated website look like? Every paragraph is in a different, bright color that hurts to read on the screen. Sections of your content are written in ALL CAPS for emphasis. There’s a ton of text everywhere, and few images. And, the few images that exist are of terrible quality and are outlined in a fluorescent pink box.
You’ve seen these kinds of sites, and like we said we really hope your site isn’t one of these. But if it is, we can help. It’s time to welcome your website to 2018, or better yet, get it ready for the future.
Is your website confused about what year it is? We’re not even going to humor you by saying “It may be time for an update.” It’s absolutely time to update your website – like NOW.
Benefits of Redesigning Your Site
There are so many benefits associated with redesigning your website; we don’t even know where to begin. But we’ll give you a list of the most important ones right now. Redesigning your website will undoubtedly help your business to:
Strengthen Brand Identity
A new website is like a fresh shower, a massage, a healthy breakfast, a makeover. Let’s see, for guys it would be like a new, freshly tailored suit. Your first day back from vacation. Are you getting a picture of how you feel and what you look like after you do some the above? You look and feel amazing, and your audience can see it radiating from your website. Whatever your brand message is, a redesign can help amplify it and clarify it for your existing and potential customers.
Improve User Experience
Updating your navigation to make it more intuitive, adding higher-quality photos and more functionality, and a creating a design that pops; all of this contributes to the user experience. And don’t you want that experience to be memorable? Your existing website may be satisfying some basic needs for your customers, but a redesign could take the user experience to the next level.
Get More Leads
This benefit is pretty self-explanatory. Clean up your look. Give users a better experience on your website and with your brand in general. Add more calls-to-action and places for potential leads to reveal themselves. The result? More leads!
Increase Lead Conversion Rates
When you strategically place calls-to-action in the right places and use the right content to portray your brand messaging, users can’t help but convert. If you’re willing to invest in a website that works as more than just an online business card, you’ll see conversion rates start to grow in no time.
Grow Your Business
An increase in conversions means profits are likely to soar as well. It’s really like a domino effect. You just need to set success in motion by putting the time and money into redesigning your website. The rest becomes much easier when you have the right tools in place.
At Smile MEDIA, we provide high-quality website redesign services to help your business reach its goals and see better results. Contact us today to find out how we can help you transform your website into a lead-generating machine.
