If you have the same site you launched five, even 10 years ago, it’s time for you to consider giving it a much-needed upgrade. It’s because a lot has changed in the web design landscape over the past few years such as search engine algorithm updates, web traffic, and browsing patterns.
Today, almost 55% of most websites’ traffic comes from smartphones and Google very frequently updates the manner in which it ranks websites in its SERPs. Therefore, if your site isn’t up-to-date, you might be losing a considerable share of your web traffic without even knowing it’s happening.
Signs to look out for…
Ideally, it’s important that you make changes to your site every 1-2 years. However, if your website shows any of these following signs, it means you can’t defer the task and need to work on it right away:
1. Your site is unresponsive on mobile devices- If your site doesn’t fit screens of various sizes or doesn’t show up in its original form on smartphones and other mobile devices, which impacts the viewing experience. Today almost 55% of traffic comes from smartphones and you need to ensure your site is mobile friendly and that it sizes properly on screens of different sizes.
2. High bounce rate- The bounce rate demonstrates the duration a visitor stays on your website after viewing a page. A high bounce rate (anything over 50%) can indicate poor navigation, uninteresting web design and structure or even a slow loading site. These are things you need to fix without delay.
3. Outdated content- If your site’s features haven’t been updated for even a few months or if it isn’t structured correctly, that can impact user experience. Consider recycling/upgrading the older content in new ways now.
4. Slow-loading site- If your site takes more than 3-5 seconds to load visitors will simply abandon it and move to a more efficient site. Elements like textures, custom fonts, background images, etc. are often responsible for a slowdown on websites and you should get your designer to fix these right away.
5. Poor Conversion Rate- If your conversion rates have dropped or if your site isn’t converting visitors, it’s time for that redesign.
If your find there is a drop in your website’s performance, look out for these five indicators. Even if you spot a couple of them, it means your site needs work and you should contact a skilled web designer to provide the right solutions.