It’s not always easy to determine when a website just needs some simple maintenance or if it needs to be completely rebuilt. In this post, we’ll cover the top 5 signs to look for when deciding if you need a new website.
1. It’s Slow
A website’s load speed is determined by many factors. But the main ones to look at include:
- Media file sizes
- Your hosting service and server setup
- How it’s coded
If your pages display a lot of images, it’s important that they are compressed and properly sized. This will ensure that they load as quickly as possible. Once you’re confident that all of your images are optimized, the next thing to check is your website’s hosting server.
If your website is hosted through a service like GoDaddy or HostGator, give their tech support number a call and ask them to investigate any potential issues. If you host your website on a private server, then your IT team should have you covered.
The most critical issue that could be affecting your site’s load speed is its code. Unless you’re using a template from Wix or Squarespace, no one website is coded exactly the same. As a site ages, its code becomes obsolete. This leads to browsers having a harder time reading and rendering it. In order to keep up with the regular changes made to internet browsing, websites need to be drastically recoded every 5 years if regular maintenance isn’t being performed.
If your website hasn’t been maintained or updated in quite a while, then it’s likely its code that’s slowing it down. Depending on how much work needs to be done on the site, a recoding project can cost quite a bit of time and money. In some cases, it may actually be cheaper to just rebuild the site.
A great tool to test your website’s load speed is Pingdom. This tool grades your site’s load speed on a one-hundred-point scale while also showing you plenty of other useful metrics to help you determine what’s causing your loading issues.
2. It Looks Old
Because web design trends change so frequently, it’s tough to keep up your site’s aesthetics for more than a couple years. And after 5 years, its age is sure to be noticed. Since maintaining a healthy online presence should be a top priority for any business, having an outdated website is an issue that should be resolved as soon as possible. Brands with shabby-looking websites will have a difficult time with consumer outreach and maintaining brand loyalty.
So, if you haven’t been making small design changes here and there to keep your site looking fresh, updating it with a brand new design may be exactly what you need.
3. It’s Not Mobile Friendly
Not having a mobile-friendly website is a clear sign that you need a new one. With over 50% of worldwide internet traffic coming from mobile phones, no business can afford to be without a mobile-friendly website. But what does mobile friendly mean, exactly?
While there are many factors that contribute to a site’s overall mobile friendliness, a core component is its responsive design. A website that uses responsive design will:
- Automatically resize to fit natively on any device
- Have optimized navigation menus so users can easily move from page to page
- Use images and graphics that are optimized to load quickly and limit data usage
- Use font sizes that are easily legible on small screens
Taking your site’s mobile-friendliness seriously will not only help you provide a better experience for your users, it will also help your rankings on search engines. A great tool to test your site’s mobile-friendliness is Google’s mobile-friendly test. Having a mobile-friendly website puts you in a better position to compete for top rankings while offering a superior user experience.
4. It Doesn’t Use a CMS
Content Management Systems (CMSs) are fantastic platforms on which to build a website. They allow you to edit your site’s content with ease, create new pages, and change your navigation menus. If you don’t want to be reliant on a developer to make these types of changes for you, then a CMS is a must.
Popular CMSs like WordPress are very easy to use and require very little technical knowledge. If you can use Microsoft Word, you should have no problem figuring out WordPress. To learn more about why your website should use a CMS, see our post on Upgrading Your Static Website to One Built on WordPress.
5. It Gets Low Traffic or Has a Low Conversion Rate
The worst thing a website can do is nothing at all. If you’re having trouble getting traffic or failing to get visitors to convert, it would be a good idea to have your website audited by a professional online marketing company. Because there are so many possible reasons why your site is seeing low traffic or conversions, you have to first determine the main issues at play before a proper solution can be reached. In some cases, it may be a simple fix like adding a few more call-to-actions or blogging on a few highly searched topics. But you won’t know until you have it looked at by a professional.
A thorough audit will examine the following aspects of a website:
- Design
- Brand Representation
- Functionality
- Content
- User Experience
- Call-to-Actions
- Mobile Friendliness
Figuring out where your website is lacking is the best way to determine what can be done to resolve your site’s traffic or conversion problem.
So, Do You Need a New Website?
Hopefully, now you have a better idea of whether you’re in need of a new website. Aside from improving your business’s online presence, launching a new website is a great way to generate excitement and earn new customers. It also presents an opportunity to add new online capabilities, making sure you stay ahead of the curb.
If you’re still unsure, we at Barta Media Group would be glad to help you figure out how to get your website performing at its best. Just give us a call at 678-464-5785 or fill out the contact form below.