It’s a bold statement, but it’s also true – your website really is one of the most important elements of your business, if not the most important thing. It’s even more important than your social media profiles. We can also point out that your website is the key element in your digital strategy, if it isn’t then well, it should be.

Your website is just like your shop window if you have physical store(s), it showcases your products, services, your team and your brand story. It’s also where customers can get an understanding of your business before purchasing or making contact with you.

Whilst pretty much most companies have a web presence nowadays, there are thousands of businesses using outdated technologies. The web is always evolving and so is the way we digitally communicate. It’s probably realistic to say that the web and technology change at 100 times the pace of everything else around them, so it’s important to stay up to date and avoid becoming a digital dinosaur.

If your website is dated, then you’re using dated practices and that could be a real turn-off for customers browsing your website. You may also find with a dated website that it’s more of a chore to update and communicate anything digitally because many systems just don’t work with your website.

So, with that incredibly long introduction over, let’s get to the actual point of this post, 5 reasons why you need to invest in a new website design.

1) It’s not user-friendly.

Fun fact, 88% of users are less likely to come back to your site after a bad experience and it’s super simple to understand why. It’s 2019 and your customers have accessed hundreds if not thousands of websites by now.

This means they are clued up on what makes a good website, such as a fast load speed, easy to use and intuitive navigation, great search tools and a clean, crisp design that’s easy to look at, adapts to their device and clearly communicates the point that page is trying to get across.

You’ll probably think the user experience on your website is great, but remember you look at your website every single day, you know all its quirks and you know how to get around. But look at it from an outside perspective, is it easy to use? If your website is making it damn difficult for users to find content and a real pain in the neck to understand what you’re offering, then not only do you have a poor first impression, your potential customers will just leave your website and never return, probably shopping with a competitor.

2) Your website is not responsive

I’m a true believer that all content on the web should be accessible to anyone using any kind of device that can access the internet. That’s what makes a responsive design so beautiful.

With more and more users browsing the web with their mobile phones and tablets than compared to desktop users, nothing can be more annoying than landing on a website where you have to pinch to zoom in or out on text, or constantly clicking on the wrong link or having to scroll left and right just to see an image.

Having a website that automatically adjusts to suit the users' screen not only delivers a great user experience, it offers consistency between devices and it also aids in converting a large chunk of those who land on your website.

With any web design, always build from mobile up. Mobile first is key. Any designer who tells you otherwise shouldn’t be hired.

3) The conversion rate is poor

A key factor on how well your website works is its conversion rate, if your conversion rate is poor then chances are customers find it hard to shop with you. A good product page should embody A/B testing so you can always adapt and improve it, with clear CTA’s, pricing and not offer to much jargon around the product and include a summary to what the product does.

If your conversion rate is poor, chances are people are turned off by bad design or functionality.

Note: A conversion rate may seem low, however, there are many industry standards based on the nature of your business, so before jumping the gun it’s worth looking to see that the standard is for your industry type.

4) Your website isn’t listed on Google

This speaks for itself, Google is something we all use daily and I refuse to believe not a day goes by where you don’t use google. It’s near impossible not to.

That said, for any business to succeed online and to win leads and ultimately sales it’s imperative that future and existing customers can find you online. Imagine looking for a business that you know exists in the world and Google search returns no results, pretty shoddy eh? And you’ll most likely just go elsewhere. It’s not like you can look a business up in the yellow pages anymore.

The internet is growing every single day with thousands of new websites coming online daily and new competitors always cropping up, your competition is ramping up at a rapid rate.

Modern day websites are setup with search engine optimisation (SEO) in mind, it means that every single page you update, every image you upload and every update you do can be optimised for SEO and it makes it easier to manage.

If your current website isn’t built with SEO in mind, or your SEO tactic is to have flashy graphics and hidden text then you’ll struggle to see your rankings improve on Google and other search engines, and you’ll just be sat there sinking whilst your competitors with the new flashy websites rise to the top.

5) It looks crap

Needless to say, if you think your website looks bad, chances are so do your customers. The web has come such a long way and people have expectations on what they expect websites to look like or at least have particular features.

If your website isn’t meeting yours and your customers’ expectations, then it’s time to think about changing it.

Conclusion:

Having a modern, fresh and intuitive website is key to trading online. You don’t need to redesign your website every year, instead taking on an objective look is vital to understanding whether or not your current website is helping you to hit your KPI’s.

If any of the points mentioned above seem to hit home, then it’s probably time to consider revamping or redesigning your website. A small change or the adaptation of the latest web technologies can really make a difference.

Here at Carbon Pixel, not only do we design websites with a mobile first attitude and encompass the latest intuitive practices, we help businesses with their existing websites to refresh the look and feel with modern and proven strategies that not only enhance the user experience but also delivers real results and helps you to reach your milestones.

Drop us on an email on [email protected] or call us on 01752 651414 and help us to help you on your journey to dominate the web.