How do you know when it’s time to update your website?
There are a few important factors to take into consideration if you’re trying to decide if your website needs updating. Check out our list of 7 reasons to update your website in 2022.
Biggest factor – web style has changed and your website feels outdated.
Website design trends are constantly changing. There are many factors that affect these trends. Increasing internet speeds are allowing for videos and animations to be more accessible and in demand. People are consuming more video content than images and text because it is easier and quicker to digest. Colors, styles, and font trends change with what’s popular at the time. The bottom line, the increase in technology and accessibility is constantly driving design trends to change and progress.
Your website page speed is slow.
Surveys and analytics show that you have less than 15 seconds to grab your visitor’s attention on your website. If your page won’t load and you can’t grab their attention in that time you will lose your visitor. As technology changes in web development, outdated systems and coding don’t function as well and so websites can take longer to load. For example, years ago flash websites were the big trend and most modern browsers don’t support flash anymore. Even within popular programs like WordPress, themes and plugins become outdated if they are not consistently kept up to date.
Doesn’t represent your current business well.
Your old website was great for you then, but as your company grows your website should grow with it. Your website may not represent your current business well if you’re in the process of rebranding or adding new services. Especially over the course of 2020 and 2021 businesses have had to adapt and change the services that they offer so their online presence should represent those changes. For example, churches have begun to return in person but it may be different than it was before. You go through a lot of work to get someone to your website, you want to be sure that the content that they find is accurate.
Doesn’t match the quality of the service/experience you offer in person.
If the quality of your website does not match the quality of the services and experience you offer in person, it’s time to update your website. There are a lot of organizations, nonprofits, and businesses that are really great at the services that they provide, but their online presence doesn’t represent that well. Often businesses spend a lot of time creating a great in-store experience but don’t pay as much attention to their website. For a prospective donor, volunteer, or client it could turn them away from giving, volunteering, or booking services if your online presence isn’t aligned with your quality of services or experience.
Is difficult to update/make changes.
If your current website is either inaccessible by you to update and make changes, or that process is becoming a burden it’s time to update. You can’t accomplish the things above if you can’t access your website. We offer monthly website maintenance plans where we can manage this for you.
Your website is not mobile-friendly.
Over 50% of website traffic is done on mobile devices and that statistic is growing daily. Modern websites should be built on a responsive platform to display well across all devices. Google ranks mobile-friendly websites higher in their searches than those that are not mobile-friendly.
We recommend updating your website aesthetics at least every 2 years and considering a full redesign within 5 years.
About every 2 years functionality and design trends shift pretty dramatically. At least 2 years you should update the homepage, hero sections, and main banner sections. Within 5 years you should consider a full redesign simply due to the advancement of technology and the systems required to keep up with it.
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