Does Your Website Need a Makeover?

How do your customers respond to change? If you implement too many changes to your business, consumers will not be able to keep up. On the other hand, if you shy away from change, consumers will think you are out of date.

Knowing when change is necessary is of greatest importance, particularly when it comes to matters of professional impression and your businesses credibility in the eyes of your customers. Many savvy business owners recognized the power of a website in the early stages and jumped on the bandwagon immediately. While those businesses proved to be very progressive at the time, if they still have the same website they did six or more years ago, there is a good chance that their website is now a little expired and could be doing more harm then good. 

The first sign that your site could use a rebuild is if your site doesn’t meet its current goals. A website should be the single largest generator of new business for your company, and if this isn't the case, a problem should be identified.

Most often it's a matter of poor design, and therefore, a bad first impression, or an unnatural navigational experience. This issue could be the result of several developers writing code on top of code, over and over again. Instead of trying to correct a mounting problem, businesses are better off just starting from scratch if this occurs.

Here we discuss several hard indicators that your website should be upgraded to today's standards.

Secondly, if your website was built with tables, then it's time for an update. This format is both hard to read and hard for search engines to break down.

A third sign that your website is "behind the times," is if visitors are welcomed with a Flash intro. Experts always disapprove of this practice since it causes slow load times and compatibility issues, among other problems.

Another indication that your website needs a makeover is if you are not involved with social media. Now, some people will quickly object and say that social media doesn’t play a role in their industry. However, consumers are talking about everything from plumbing to retail on social media networks. Consumers like the connection and personalization that Facebook, Twitter, and other social platforms give them.

Fifthly, if your website is not mobile-ready, then it could quickly cause your business to fall behind. Consumers want the ability to access everything from their mobile devices. Websites that don't offer this capability could lose business.

Also, if you need a web designer to make even the slightest change to your website, you probably need to make some adjustments. Experts highly recommend content management systems for convenience and usability.

Lastly, when the call to action is not clear or effective, changes need to be made. Visitors need a simplistic process that doesn’t require them to create an account or to search for something. If it’s not easy, it reduces the visitor’s chances of taking action.

So, are you ready to take these signs seriously and make some changes?

Resource: SmallBusinessNewz.com
Reporter: Abby Johnson -  Video Reporter/Anchor for SmallBusinessNewz.