Q: How often should I redesign my website?
A: A site that is 5 or more years old is ancient. As a general rule, small businesses should plan to redesign their websites every 2-3 years to keep them looking fresh. The following are sure signs your site needs work:
• Animation is still in Flash format
• Bounce rate is high
• Branding is not consistent in print, on social media, and on your website
• Call to action is lacking
• Colors are unfashionable
• Error messages appear at log in and/or when loading certain pages
• Fonts are difficult to read or too generic to speak well for your brand
• Graphic design or template is tired and dated
• Images are generic and low quality
• Images are lacking and there is too much text
• Loading takes too long in your visitors’ opinion
• Malware security warnings pop up
• Navigation is confusing or there are too many options
• New products and services aren’t represented on your website
• Plug-ins don’t work
• Search engine results are not what you desire
• Site is unresponsive and not yet mobile-friendly
• Site looks unattractive (or downright ugly) on a mobile device
• Secure encryption—HTTPS in your URLS—is missing
• The layout lacks white space
• Updating the site has become very difficult
• You aren’t happy with the way it looks or works
If you see a number of these signs now, don’t wait two or more years to make changes. Update your website now in order to give your customers a better experience. An easy-to-use mobile-friendly website makes your customers happy and can result in more sales for you.
At Tate Design, we build each new website on a premium framework and we offer regular website maintenance, both of which allow you to get a lot more life out of a website before it’s time to rebuild. If you are looking to update, we apply the latest in Web design and development in order to redesign your outdated website. We
• Build in search engine optimization
• Check that licenses are in order
• Debug for malware
• Double-check metrics like bounce rate, error messages, and loading time
• Make sure your branding and your messaging are consistent
• Modernize your colors, fonts, graphics, layout, and navigation
• Redesign with mobile friendliness, responsiveness, and security as necessities for your success
• Update your web host installation (including WordPress), passwords, and plug-ins
• Use high-quality images and animation
Call Tate Design at 610.725.0702 or e-mail [email protected] if you need a new mobile-friendly responsive website or if you are seeing signs your website is outdated and you want help with a website update now.
