Is Now The Right Time to Have Your Business Website Redesigned?

Technology never stops improving and your website shouldn’t either. The mobile-responsive movement is not a trend, it is a direct response to the ever increasing use of smartphones and tablet devices to access websites.

As such, the importance of having a mobile-friendly website has been tooted again and again to make those who are not listening, hear the call. If you are not mobile responsive, you will NOT show up in mobile search results. And showing up on people’s mobiles when their searching on the go is crucial to your success as a business. If they can’t find you, how will you attain their business?

This is just one of many things to consider when asking yourself if it is time to give your business website a makeover. There are multiple reasons why a website should be redesigned including web designs that look dated or just plain ugly.  

By asking yourself the questions below, you can figure out if it’s time to get to work on making your website work better for you and your business objectives through a website redesign.

Does your business have a communications and marketing strategy that includes goals you hope your website will help you achieve?

If the answer is no, then it’s high time you put a plan in place. Think about your business objectives and how your website can help you accomplish these goals. Whether you want your website to act as a lead generation tool, or be a source of information for your clients is up to you, but first things first, you need to establish what it is your trying to accomplish by having a website to begin with.

Do you know who you’re trying to reach with your website?

Knowing who your ideal customer is and what they want is crucial for creating an effective website. It should be this knowledge that inspires the content of the website, as well as the look and the feel of the design so that it successfully appeals to your target audience.

Do you know if your target audience is actually getting to your website?

If not, set up Google Analytics so you can start tracking the information and find out. The data you collect from your Analytics information can help you see what path your web visitors take when using your current site and what pages are most accessed. Using this information during a website redesign, you can create a more effective sitemap, making it easier for your web visitors to navigate to what they want.

Do you know what your audience wants when visiting your website?

No? Well that’s why you need Google Analytics. The data it collects includes what devices people are using to visit your site, where they live, age range – a wealth of information.

Is it easy for your web visitors to find the information they are looking for?

If not, then do yourself and your web visitors a favor by revisiting your sitemap and cleaning up the information architecture. Important information should not be buried in subpages but should be prominent and easily accessed. Your contact information should be readily available in the footer or header area of your website.

Is the content on your website up to date?

Again, if the answer is no, you should fix that ASAP. Old content makes you look lazy. You don’t want to be advertising a sale that happened two years ago. Website redesigns are a great time to revisit your content and get things up to speed with what is going on with your business now – not 5 years ago.

Is the text on your site written in a style that is web ready?

People on the web are impatient and they scan rather then read. Hence ‘web-ready’ writing. Web ready writing includes keeping your sentences short, using bulleted lists, being succinct and basically not creating massive blocks of text that look too daunting to read.

Does your website’s design match your business’s style and personality?

If not, then get a website redesign. You want all your marketing materials – including your website to have a similar feel that stays true to your brand. By being consistent with your branding, your customers come to recognize you – as you.

Does your website stand out from your competitors?

In a bowl full of lemons, a lime will stand out. Stand apart from your completion by having a website that presents your business in the best light.

Does your website read well and look good on smartphones, tablets and desktops regardless of screen size and orientation?

This is the reason mobile friendly web design is a must!

Does your website’s publishing system make it easy for staff to update content?

You don’t need to call your web guy to correct a spelling error on your website or do you? With the vast improvement of content management systems and a little training, you can easily make changes to text on your website and upload photos and files as well. This training should be provided to you by the web developer redesigning your website.