So you may be thinking about a website redesign for a variety of factors. So what factors should you take into account before making a final decision on a website redesign project?
Toronto website design expert, Pat’s Marketing, has taken up hundreds of website re-design projects and we find the following main factors make your website a good contender for a re-design:
Your Design Sucks or is too old!
An old 1990 looking design with distorted & stretched images, lack of quality content & poor design will do no good if you are considering driving sales off of your website. A professional is what a professional does. By that saying, a professional website will definitely make an impression on the visitors it gets. So consider re-designing your website if your website is just too old and you need a website that looks current.A professional looking website says a lot about your business and the type of clients you will attract.
Your website uses old & out of date technology
Flash, HTML tables and iframes are all old technologies that won’t work anymore or atleast won’t be too compatible on mobile & tablets. For instance an iPhone won’t be able to render flash objects. So if your website uses flash technology, it’s time to consider upgrading the site.
Old Technologies may mean higher cost of ownership
Using old technologies makes it difficult at times to make updates to the website. For e.g. if you would like to place an estimate or inquiry form on a 50-page website which is in HTML then you would probably need to change 50 files instead of one. With content management website platforms like WordPress, you only need to edit once not 50 times! So consider upgrading your site to reduce your cost of ownership.
Your Website is not Responsive or Mobile Friendly!
If your website is not mobile friendly or responsive (which mean the same thing), then you don’t need to read any further; it’s time to upgrade. Mobile market share is increasing every day and if your website is not easy to use on mobile, then you are going to lose the mobile market share to your competition.
Your Website is not designed to Convert Traffic
A bad call to action is all it takes to spend a lot on marketing and get minimal results out of it. Your website needs to have a clear call to action or clear message as to what specific actions you would like your prospective clients to take when they visit your website.
Lack of Selling Factors
Why a prospective buyer should buy your service is the most significant question you need to ask yourself. Does your website answer that question or not? Selling factors like reviews, industry accreditation, work samples all are significant selling factors. Ensure your website highlights these factors and they are placed on the home page or no more than a click’s distance from the home page.
Your Website Performs poorly on search engines
Even after spending a ton of efforts on your website, SEO & posting quality content, if you find that your website is not keeping up well with search rankings, then it’s time to consider for a website redesign. Sometimes, even as web design & SEO consultants it’s not clearly evident as to what search engines so dislike about your website that they won’t give it enough credibility. In this situation, it’s simply too difficult or time consuming to gauge what technical factors would be responsible for lack of website performance. It’s better to upgrade!
The website is designed the way you like it not how your customers would like
Fewer business owners realize that their design preferences may not be in their client’s best interest. Take an example if you are a residential carpet cleaning company and you like very bold colors in website design. Your target client is the lady in the household who perhaps does not appreciate bold colors. This may be a small thing but such small things will impact the overall website performance. So always think in terms of what your clients like not you.
Coming up with the website design is a job best left to your website designer. If you hire a competent website designer, they will consult you as a business owner and come up with a website that would appeal to your target audience. In other words, the website ought to be designed in a way that appeals to your clients.
There may be many other factors but here we have tried to come up with the most common factors that we have come across.
If you need help with a website redesign in Toronto, Contact us at 1.888.488.7287.
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