How do you know that your existing website needs modernization because time has passed it by? We’ve compiled 5 points to help you understand which factors indicate that your site is ready for renewal!
There’s nothing more satisfying in the life of an entrepreneur than when, after much planning, organization, meetings and countless work, your website is finally completed. However,
the dream ends there, because a website requires much more energy than that: updates, ongoing maintenance and content updates await you as the owner. How do you know when website modernization has become necessary? Take a few moments with your morning coffee to read our article below!
How can you tell when you need a new website?
1.) The secret of responsiveness
Your website may have a great design, trendy photos and modern copy, but if it’s not responsive, it’s worth nothing!
In other words, it must appear optimally on every device – mobile, tablet, laptop, PC – adapting flexibly to screen size and providing the best user experience.
Why is responsiveness important?
Why is this important? I’m sure you’ve experienced it many times: you’re browsing Facebook, you see an eye-catching ad and IMMEDIATELY want to click on it, but you don’t want to turn on your laptop to visit the website, right? With your phone and a few taps, you accomplish the mission!
This is how it works for countless users, because already 66.9% of the population owns a mobile phone, and the global number of smartphone users was estimated at 6.6 billion in 2022. And the following statistics show clearly that 59.72% of internet browsers use their mobile phone for this purpose.
In Q2 2022, what device do most people use to browse the internet?
What does this mean for website owners?
If your website is not responsive, you can observe the following behavior with your visitors: Users open it and close it in the same second!
“Is my website responsive?” – I’m sure you’re wondering that now, and the good news is that you can check it easily! Simply take out your smartphone and browse through it as an external viewer, and you’ll also see the errors if images stick out of the screen, pages don’t load properly, content is jumbled, etc.
The tangible 5 benefits of a responsive website!
- You rank higher in Google search results
- It becomes faster
- You provide a better user experience to visitors
- Images will display beautifully at every screen size
- Thanks to search functionality and simple navigation, the number of purchases or inquiries can increase
+ professional tip from the Webgrow team: When building your content structure, it’s worth keeping in mind that the final result will perfectly stand up to responsiveness standards. The cleaner and simpler, the more successful it will be. The flashing, spinning and other “impressive” elements from the early 2000s should be left in the past!
2) Outdated extensions have gone out of fashion
Just as trapeze pants and neon sweaters have become outdated, so has the “fashion” of website extensions changed. The time of flash-based websites and java plugins has passed!
If your website is still running on one of the above two, then it’s worth reconsidering, because it’s never a good sign if users can only view a website if they have to install various programs or plugins. You wouldn’t want to lose traffic because of that, would you?
3) High traffic, but conversion falls short
You’ll likely find the key to the problem in the bounce rate!
One of the most important statistical numbers related to your website (beyond sales figures) is the bounce rate. Let’s look at what it means: a metric that shows you how many of the incoming visitors leave the page without clicking further or browsing, i.e., “bounce back”.
I’m sure you’re now wondering what percentage counts as a good result for bounce rate? To illustrate this, we use HubSpot statistics.
What bounce rate is “normal”?
From the image, you can clearly see that the normal range varies greatly depending on the type of website you’re talking about, so this should be discussed together with your marketing team.
If you could use a few professional tips, feel free to reach out to us!
How does this relate to the characteristics of a good website?
Generally speaking, a high bounce rate often occurs alongside high visitor numbers when something isn’t working well. In that case, it’s worth starting your problem investigation with the website itself.
We’ve created a checklist that you can use to become your own website developer and easily shed light on blind spots.
Website checklist
How many of the eight could you check off? Are there any gaps? Instead of panicking, request a quote from our team for a facelift! After website modernization, success will certainly not be far behind!
4) Without good content, a website is worthless!
The foundation of a website is that the most up-to-date information appears on it. We’re thinking of the following: phone numbers where customers/clients can reach the company, address, fresh photos, perhaps introductions of colleagues. Beyond that, you only need to focus on engaging content, which your continuously updated blog can provide as a wonderful platform.
We understand that constantly pestering the developer with these requests is costly and resource-intensive, so when requesting a quote for a website, it’s worth choosing one where you can make these changes anytime without programming knowledge.
5) The website is the mirror of your company’s soul
Just as the eye is the mirror of the soul, so your website is your company’s, and thus one of your most important marketing tools as well.
Your company’s profile changes, evolves and develops over the years. It may happen that your business starts dealing with other areas, develops new specialties, your portfolio is refreshed, etc.
Development is always wonderful in the life of a business, but amid all the hustle and bustle and countless tasks, you must not forget one thing: your website must reflect these changes. Grow together, because you’re letting go of the reins on one of your most important communication channels!
Your website should reflect changes in your company’s life
+1 Listen to your instincts
You’re looking at your website, but you can’t identify with it? It was created with great effort, but you feel like it’s not “YOU” or doesn’t represent your company?
Even if everything is working perfectly and generating good results, there may be no perfect “match”. In that case, it’s worth reconsidering the design, the structure and starting to plan anew, because if there’s no love between you and it, then spending time with it won’t be smooth either and it will just become another task on your daily to-do list, instead of you enjoying the development of your own website.
If you feel it’s time for website modernization due to technical or other reasons, please reach out to us!
