The reasons why you might need a new website

A company's website is the first encounter a potential customer makes with a company and their product. In fact, according to HubSpot, "50% of consumers believe that website design is crucial to a business’s overall brand." Therefore, having a well-designed homepage, a functional menu, and an overall aesthetically pleasing website is crucial for attracting new customers and increasing the conversion rate.

But what happens when your site isn't working properly? When it bugs or crashes on a regular basis? Or even worse, looks dated? Exactly, you lose potential customers.

A website that does not reflect a brand's values, goals, and vision does more harm than good. Simple, functional, and up to scratch – you may achieve that by improving your current website. But it is difficult, meticulous work that doesn’t change the root of the problem. Consider these 7 reasons why building a new website may offer you countless new possibilities to increase your firm’s revenue and profitability.

1. Does it seem designed by a rookie?

If, at first glance, your common man can see inconsistencies in the color and shape of your layout, chances are they’ll leave the site to never come back. One proven way to ensure that your website reflects the quality of your brand is to work with a professional designer.

A good designer knows how to make sure that a webpage is visually appealing while still being easy to navigate. Professionals know what colors complement each other and how to use layout elements to draw attention to certain parts of the site. This, in turn, makes sure the customer sees the best products you provide.

The customer’s taste and user experience are the main focal points for an experienced designer creating a website for a company. A professional takes the target audience’s preferences into consideration to please both the business owners and the potential customers. Special attention is paid to matching the users' likes with your existing brand style in terms of color schemes and font layouts. At the same time, special emphasis is placed on color contrast, allowing people with visual impairments or those opening your website on smartphones to view it without any problems. So consider welcoming a seasoned professional to your team.

2. Confusing navigation

The average person spends about three minutes looking around a site before deciding whether or not to make a purchase. This means that if your site isn't easy to use, your customers won't stick around long enough to see how great your products really are.

This has been confirmed by a number of studies on the subject. As such, according to a study conducted by Unbounce in 2019, “nearly 70% of consumers admit that page speed impacts their willingness to buy from an online retailer”. Therefore, out of 1,000 people, 700 will lose interest in what you have to offer. What is more, according to Forrester Research, the number one reason why consumers abandon online shopping carts is that they cannot easily locate the product they want.

If your website’s menu is confusing and its navigation requires a rocket science degree, you'll most likely lose out on sales and conversions. In most cases, fixing this requires a fresh start, a new canvas, for that a websites structure is its backbone, the most important part.

3. Takes too long to load

If you want your search ranking on Google to be as high as possible, make sure your website loads quickly. According to Google Analytics, slower sites create unhappy users and bad ratings. The ideal load time is no more than 4 seconds, preferably even within the interval between 0 and 3. “A site that loads in 1 second has a conversion rate 3x higher than a site that loads in 5 seconds”, or so Portent, a well-established digital marketing agency, says.

So, how does one go about making sure their site loads fast? There are several things that could cause a website to load slowly. For example, your server might be overloaded or your connection speed could be limited. You could also have a large number of files on your website. In the case of the latter, one possible solution would be to build a new website. Speed alone might not be a deciding factor in such an important decision. Yet should you encounter more than 2-3 problems this article lists, consider taking a step back and reassessing your options.

4. Poor content management

The days of static websites are over. They're dead. Long live dynamic websites.

We've already covered how crucial it is to have fresh, compelling content. But what about those businesses that still rely on outdated technology that makes updating content difficult or too time-consuming? Imagine being in a situation where you need to contact your digital design agency or a freelancer to update a five-word sentence. Or wait a second... are you in this situation right now? If that's your current state of affairs, then we would advise you to start looking for a solution that will set you free.

A Content Management System (CMS) may become your savior that will give you a few extra vacation weeks. CMS allows users to gain a complete control over the website. With CMS you can change anything on the fly, including adding new pages, images, videos, blog posts, and more. You can even schedule the changes to happen automatically with a few clicks, this way, you won't ever have to worry about forgetting to post a new article or launch a new product.

You'll never have to struggle with confusing code again as well. You can just use drag-and-drop tools to quickly add, delete, move, copy and rename files. You can even set permissions so that certain people can access specific areas of your site. And best of all, you can keep track of everything via a simple dashboard where you can see exactly what's happening on your site.

5. Your website is not mobile-friendly

According to Google, mobile devices are increasingly being used to access the websites of big and small brands. Google reports that over half of the consumers prefer visiting websites using their smart phones. Furthermore, 35% of those polled said that if a company's website isn't mobile-friendly, they will use it less. Google study even found that customers are willing to pay up to $5 extra per transaction if they can purchase products using their smartphones, which means that overlooking the importance of website responsiveness is no longer acceptable for a thriving business.

Your company may be losing out on a sizable portion of potential revenue if company's website doesn't function correctly on smartphones. You can always reach out to us if you need to convert your website to a new responsive self.

6. No social media integration

Social media has ingrained itself deeply into our culture and has proven crucial for both B2B and B2C businesses. In fact, according to Forrester Research, 80% of consumers are likely to abandon a purchase if they cannot find information about the product online. This makes social media a powerful marketing tool for businesses looking to build brand awareness and increase sales.

However, many small businesses and even startups still underestimate the power of social media presence and don't utilize social media marketing at full capacity. Many believe that simply having a Facebook page or Twitter account is enough to start generating leads and grow their customer base. Unfortunately, without content flow on social media accounts brand might loose in their sales.

And even if your social media accounts are flourishing, that's still might not be enough. You should also invest your time in ensuring that your website integrates social media features like social sharing tools, comment forms, or even live chat options. By integrating these features directly onto your website, customers will be able to easily share content with friends, ask questions, and interact with your business without ever leaving the page, which will increase the average time spent on the website and user engagement metrics. Consider adding social media integration to your website for your next digital marketing strategy.

7. Your website does not reflect your company’s vibes

And here is another toast to the importance of consistent branding. If your website gives a wrong perception of your business, then it might be time to update it. For example, if you are an investment firm that has a website in a brutalism style with artsy-looking design elements it might confuse your customers and give them a wrong aftertaste after visiting your website. You definitely do not want that, you want your website's design to resonate with your industry. If it's not, then you could end up losing customers.

Conclusion

Your website plays a huge part in your marketing plan and you may need to replace it if any of the items on this list apply to it. If you are embarrassed by your website and refuse to tell your customers about it, it's time to bring in the new. You and your staff should be pleased with the corporate website. It should accurately represent your business and have interesting content to draw in visitors, turn them into leads, and keep consumers interested. Remember, a good responsive modern website will always attract new clients, represent your brand well, and lead you to business improvement because web design does matter. Need assistance understanding it all? We're prepared to assist. Please get in touch with us.