In the modern tech world, a company’s website is essentially their storefront, creating the first impression for thousands of potential customers. It only takes 50 milliseconds for a site visitor to form an impression that determines whether or not they’ll dive deeper — or become just another percentage on your bounce rate.
On average, a website redesign is recommended every three years. In just three years, the differences in style and design are instantly discernable–newer websites look fresh, and dated websites show their age. However, modern designs and bouncing site traffic aren’t the only concerns of an outdated website; in fact, that just scratches the surface.
Just like with a new car or new smartphone, entropy takes its toll. Little by little, links begin to break, security measures grow outdated, page load times grow longer, templates become outdated, SEO rules change, and new technology like voice search becomes standard. Within a few years, your company website’s fresh new code and modern features are no longer impressing Google’s algorithm.
- Your website can’t be found on Google, due to outdated optimization
- Your website is repelling visitors, due to outdated design or poor user experience (UX)
- Your website lacks modern integration, causing less efficiency for employees
1. Page Load Times
If your company’s website was built prior to three years ago, it’s likely that the templates and design popular during that time period wasn’t built to be as speedy as modern websites. Google has built a tool for testing load times. If your page speed load times are more than 2 seconds, it’s definitely time for a website upgrade!
2. Broken Links
Broken links lower your ranking on Google, impacting the searchability of your company. If a Google bot crawling your page runs into a dead link, it may prevent it from properly indexing your website, leading to decreased SEO value.
Broken links can also cause broken trust — imagine if a visitor reading your latest blog entry clicks an enticing link to learn more about your services, only to discover it goes nowhere. You’ve just lost a potential conversion.
3. Lacking Voice Search Capabilities
Similar to how responsive, mobile-friendly websites became a mandatory upgrade for companies wanting to survive in the world of smartphones, voice search functionality will soon become critical for modern business websites. Losing over 50% of search traffic is a large blow to anyone’s bottom line.
If your company’s website isn’t set up with voice search functionality, that’s a good sign it’s time for an upgrade.
4. Limited Reach and Integration
Old technology limits a business’ ability to reach and engage with their target audience. Some newer functionality is expected by visitors, such as:
- Voice search
- Client login to view online profile and history
- Online quotes
- Databases for reports
- Easy newsletter sign-up
- Quick checkout process
- Auto-fill form functionality
- Chatbots and AI
- Click-to-call business number
5. Giving Permanent Clients to Competitor
Odds are they are going back to their Google search results to look at the next website on the list — the competition.
If the competition’s website has a sleek new design, quick load times, and modern functionality, that immediate comparison will likely make the potential customer never give the first business a second look. Ever again.
Business A just lost more than a one-time deal. They likely just gave a lifelong customer to Business B.
Take a look at your competitor’s websites, and determine whether or not your company has the edge.
There are a few red flags that can let you know it’s time to update your company website.
- Slow load times.
- Large amounts of text.
- Inconsistent fonts and colors
- Distracting, gaudy backgrounds or animations
- Outdated company information
- Long forms
- Broken links
- Links to old and outdated news
- Not optimized for mobile
- Overuse of obvious stock photos
- Excessive keyword stuffing
- Broken images
- Small, hard-to-find call-to-action
- Phone number that isn’t click-to-call
- Complicated back end that doesn’t save data; inefficient for employees
- Lack of social buttons
- Quick load times, less than 2 seconds
- Large, easy-to-read fonts
- Consistent brand colors throughout website
- Small blocks of simple text, with heavier use of graphics
- Clean, simple backgrounds and colors
- Minimalist or Flat design
- Updated company information
- Links to modern articles from recent years
- Optimized for mobile
- Optimized for voice search
- Customer-oriented content strategy, rather than keyword stuffing
- A bold, easy-to-see call-to-action
- Short forms, using auto-fill if possible
- Login information stored, with customer profiles
- Phone number is click-to-call
- Automated newsletter sign-up for easily automated marketing
- Easy-to-use back end that saves time for employees
- Social buttons and focus on social media
Take Your Company’s Website to the Next Level
If your company’s website is ready for an upgrade, the web and mobile app developers at Innuy are ready to help enhance your online presence. Whether your team is developing a mobile application, progressive web app, AI, data science, or IoT, our developers can help your company create a dynamic, unique, integrated project.
With expertise in Python, Django, and Javascript, our team specializes in providing affordable web development from Latin America–often costing 30-50% less than developers in the US.