How do you know when it's time for a new website? It's a straightforward question but it often takes businesses by surprise. Many organisations believe that once they launch their websites it will carry on working in the background for many years to come.
It's usually only when someone describes the website as outdated, or the number of site visitors drops dramatically, or the search engine ranking falls, that business owners realise they need to take action.
Even if you only launched your website a few years ago, it may already be outdated when it comes to usability, speed and content.
Over a Billion Websites
If there's one thing a web designer on the Sunshine Coast knows, it's that websites are evolving faster than ever. And that makes perfect sense when you look at a few statistics. Back in the day, when websites were new and there were far fewer internet users, you could create something quite basic and leave it alone for years.
As of January 1 this year, however, there were more than 1.3 billion websites on the internet. There are also 3,812,564,450 internet users across the globe. Bearing in mind that the very first website was launched in 1991, that's a phenomenal growth rate.
With so many websites and internet users, it's no wonder website design on the Sunshine Coast has changed and evolved so much. Internet users have so much choice these days that they will be picky and demanding. If your website is outdated and boring, they'll go elsewhere. If your website is slow to load, they'll go elsewhere. In fact, if there's anything they don't like about your website, they'll go elsewhere!
Invest in your Website
For businesses, this means it's time to take your online presence very seriously. Stop seeing it as an annoying cost and realise that you need to invest in not only your website but also your digital marketing. Just remember, no clicks, no customers.
For a web designer on the Sunshine Coast, this means you need to across not only the latest website design trends but also understand algorithm updates, SEO, metrics/analytics and more.
Does your website need updating? Here are some pointers.
Visitor Numbers
Is your site being visited by fewer people? If the answer is 'yes' or 'don't know', your website definitely needs a makeover! Your website should have tools in place to know exactly how much traffic it is generating. You should even be able to break this down into individual pages.
Leads and Conversions
Closely connected with the above, you should know whether your website is generating solid leads and whether those leads are being closed or converted. Perhaps your visitor numbers are healthy but your abandonment rate at the checkout is increasing? That means there's a problem with your payment gateway or your site is slow/difficult to navigate.
Multi-Device Enabled
If you don't know what that means, it's time for a new website! Your site needs to be designed so it can be easily viewed and navigated on any device. This year mobile internet usage will increase to over 61%.
Content
Does your website allow you to add new content regularly? Is the content professionally written to be engaging, entertaining and informative whilst also using the right keywords? Are people sharing your content? If the answer is 'no', it's time for a new website.
Website Design
If you can tell just by looking at it that your website is well and truly outdated, it's definitely time to talk to a web designer on the Sunshine Coast!