Website Redesign: 6 Signs It's Time to Update Your Old Website

A website is your calling card in cyberspace. Currently there are 4.2 billion users of internet browsing through almost 2 billion sites.

Almost a third of these sites have been designed using WordPress. 

Your website allows potential customers to know what you do, the services you offer, and how to contact you.

Not only do you need to have a website, but you also need one that is a lead magnet. It's vital to understand that how a website looks and behaves builds the brand and affects your topline.

An old and unattractive website can ruin your reputation and destroy your brand's potential.

What are the all-important signs that your website requires a major redesign? We describe in detail.

Here are six signs that your site needs an overhaul:

1. Your Website Looks Old

Website designs change frequently. New themes that are visually appealing and can do more are in use.

The websites in use a decade back were geared towards functionality with nary a thought towards aesthetics.

Source 

This was how the internet looked at the turn of the century! How far we have come. 

As more and more sites have come into existence, aesthetics has become a critical differentiator.

No longer does the website of a boutique, and that of a bank look the same. If your site seems worn out, you can be sure that customers are going to retreat in a hurry.

Brand new themes need minimal coding and come with easy to use drag and drop configuration. Pre designed layouts offer you a huge choice of where each element would go without touching a line of code.

A live preview of how the site would look without actually building it is possible.

Most importantly, the lines are clean and modern with exemplary navigation.

A makeover is suitable for your site and your business. If your site does not look contemporary, then your business probably isn't too.

2. Your Website Uses Flash

If you haven't renovated your site in the past few years, it probably still runs on Flash.

Flash was very popular once upon a time and used for vector graphics. Adobe stopped its development in 2020. If your site, like so many others, used Flash, it's dead.

The reason for this change was that Flash was a security nightmare. The platform was bug-ridden and easy to exploit. Steve Jobs famously banned Flash from iOS, hastening its demise.

Every major website has migrated away from Flash long back to a mix of HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript.

There are millions of smaller sites that still run on Flash, but since browsers have stopped support, they cannot be viewed properly.

Source 

Does your website generate pop ups like these? 

Technology doesn't standstill. Every decade or so, there would be a significant overhaul of old languages. Your site would have to adhere to the changes for the sake of better security and conformity.

Browsers (Edge, Chrome, Firefox, etc.) decide what is best for the users. Once they withdraw support, you have little choice but to oblige.

3. Your Website Is Not SEO-friendly

Years back, search engine optimization was not significant. In every niche, there was a handful of sites, and most could be found in the first few pages of a search.

As the number of websites has exploded and search engines have tweaked the way they work, SEO has become crucial to your site's survival. Without proper SEO, no one would be able to locate your site.

A new site is easier to optimize. They are designed keeping performance in mind.

More innovative languages such as Liquid have been purpose-built for templates. The widespread use of structured data makes it easier for Google to understand more about your website.

Technological advances such as these can't be ignored anymore. An old website requires a redesign to cope. Otherwise, it would stagnate on page hundred of search.

4. Your Website Makes a Snail Seem Fast

Do you know:

A one-second delay in page loading leads to 7% less conversion?

Google prefers that a website loads in two seconds.

That is a tall ask if you are using outdated technology. Old websites were clunky and took a long time to appear.

New sites load at blazing speeds. It's not only customers who notice it but also Google. If your site does not load quickly, they consider it a minus.

There are a number of reasons a site could be slow. It could be too many images on the page or several thousand lines of useless code that could be pared down.

If the website takes ages to load, you should go in for a complete redesign.

5. Your Website Looks Weird on Mobile Devices

Internet usage trends have changed dramatically. 60% of searches happen from mobile devices. 

When it comes to smartphones there are a plethora of screen sizes and resolutions in use. Your site has to render perfectly on each of them.

There are two ways of achieving this end.

The first is to use a theme that dynamically adjusts to the device. The second is to use Google AMP, an open-source framework that allows your site to load quickly on smart devices.

Most users spend several hours on their cell phones. It is vital that your website works properly on them. Otherwise, you would be missing out on thousands of potential leads.

Research indicates that a majority of users are unlikely to return if they have had an inadequate response the first time around.

6. Your Website Doesn't Help in Converting Leads into Sales

The purpose of a website is to inform potential customers and to help convert a lead into an actual sale.

If that is not happening, it might be time to renovate the site.

Conversions depend on several factors:

• Do your landing pages look attractive?
• Did your PPC ad overpromise and your pages underdeliver?
• Are there proper CTA buttons in the right places?
• Do users find enough information to return time and again?
• Do they sign up regularly for your webinars and newsletters?

Unless your answer to all of these is in the affirmative, you need someone to help you revamp the site and give it a new look.

Tips for Website Renovation

It's not a cause for worry. The biggest websites regularly undergo a facelift to look appealing.

How do you start?

Make a list of the website aspects that you wish to change. These might be code-related, such as replacing Flash with HTML or related to theme and template.

Similarly, make a list of what must stay the same. Probably with some degree of elbow grease, they can be accommodated into a new layout.

When the site has been redesigned, it would have to be taken down for a short period – usually a few hours – while everything is migrated.

At the same time, if you have changed URLs, there would have to be a complete list of redirects that should point to the equivalent page on the revamped site.

Depending on the level of change, it could take from a day to a month. A change of theme is relatively easy but using brand new code takes time.

Get Help

Of course, this is not a task you can accomplish by yourself (unless you are a website developer).

For the sake of efficiency, you must hand over this kind of renovation to experts. If you hire a WordPress expert, you are assured of quick turnaround time and flawless execution.

Uplers offers the best and reliable WordPress development to clients worldwide. Experienced WordPress developers would ensure that your site is updated using the latest technology and plugins.