Web Design Blog

5 Reasons to Show Your Website Needs a Redesign

16 January 2015 by mintlogix

Technology is always changing. Websites are more frequently being viewed on mobile devices and tablets. Social media and community interaction are shaping the way websites should function and look.

Redesign isn’t all about changing the look or feel of a website but more the functionality of the site. Problems with presentation, speed, and the ability to update are prompting website redesign on a daily basis.

These are some factors that most often lead to businesses redesigning their websites:

Responsive Web Design

Responsive design means creating a website that will size the content, images and structure on any platform. When a user looks at a website on their desktop they will get the full view of the site creating easy reading, minimum panning and resizing. On a tablet or smartphone the same site will retract to fit the smaller screen.

Responsive design allows you to have one website instead of having multiple sites for various devices or worrying about whether your website runs properly on any of the many mobile devices. It is flexible because it is based on the size of the screen and not specific devices.

Case studies have found that having a responsive design will give you significantly better conversion rates. If your customers cannot experience your website properly on the device they are using it will cost you lost revenue.

Your Website Takes too Long to Load

According to surveys done by Akamai and Gomez.com, nearly half of web users expect a site to load in 2 seconds or less, and they tend to abandon a site that isn’t loaded within 3 seconds. 79% of web shoppers who have trouble with web site performance say they won’t return to the site to buy again and around 44% of them would tell a friend if they had a poor experience shopping online.

Not only does this mean you’re losing conversions from visitors on your site, but also magnifying that loss by missing out on their friends and colleagues as well. The end result – lots of potential conversions down the drain because of those few seconds.

Decline in Visitors to your Site or High Bounce Rates

On the Internet, a high bounce rate is the kiss of death – it is a sure sign that your website and marketing strategy need to be overhauled. Web analytic tools can be used to better understand and analyze the success of your marketing campaigns to measure everything from time spent on site to cost per engagement. The bounce rate is one metric you cannot afford to ignore, as it measures how effectively your website is performing with visitors.

By definition, bounce rate is the percentage of site visitors who leave after visiting one page. Why would these users “bounce”? It’s probably an indication that your site isn’t providing the information the user is seeking, the site could be taking too long to load or is confusing to navigate, or perhaps there’s a larger disconnect between your site and your users.

A redesign incorporating these design tips can make all the difference:

• Clear navigation – if a user can’t find what they’re looking for, they will leave.
• Clear purpose and call to action on the landing page – visitor confusion is one of the biggest causes of a high bounce rate.
• Third-party content and widgets – they increase load time and weigh down the site.
• Easy to read content – a lot of browsing occurs on mobile devices and smaller screens so font size and contrast must be a big consideration.
• Invest your money in a responsive design, which will adapt to any screen size and optimize the user experience for everyone.

Parts of your Site are not Functioning Properly

Does your website have areas that appear broken or errors like “404 not found” elements? It may be easy to fix this issue but it could also be a sign of a much bigger problem. Your site is being mishandled or is disorganized. The solution to this problem is implementing a content management system so that your not losing pictures or creating broken links due to improper management of your site.

If your website is full of broken links, errors,and missing images then it is time to consider a complete website redesign. Potential clients will get a negative impression from a website that contains many broken parts. The impression is that if you do not fix your site then you probably won’t correct any issues that they might come across with your product or business. So they are likely to move on to the next search result who is probably your competition.

Updating your Website is a Headache

An updated website keeps visitors coming back. If you find yourself lacking time or just don’t know how, this is probably a sign you need a website re-design. Hiring a web developer to install a content management system (CMS) could be of great help. CMS empowers non-programmers to easily add new content, edit existing content, and update information on their website from a web browser or even a mobile phone.

Your website should evolve and change as your business grows and as technology progresses, not keep your business away from growing. An outdated and negative website has big impact on your business.