5 Signs That You Need a New Website

It is important to have a business website that is current, fresh and interesting. Unfortunately, a lot of business owners don’t want to invest the time or money into hiring a professional web design company to create a new website – even if their current site is 10 years old and full of out-dated information. If you are having a hard time convincing your boss that it’s time to update the old website, here are 5 signs that you can share that will make your case crystal clear and prove once-and-for-all that it’s time to get a new website.

#1 – You Haven’t Change Your Site in a Few Years
The overall design of your site should be changed and updated on a regular basis in order to keep up with industry web design standards and trends. If your website looks the same as it did 2 years ago – it’s time to at least make some small structural or color changes. If your website looks the same as it did 4-5 years ago – it’s time for a complete overhaul. If you really want to prove your point to the powers that be, look up your website on the Way Back Machine at Internet Archive (http://web.archive.org) and show them just how little has been changed over the years.

#2 – Your Site is Built on Outdated Technology
Let’s put it this way, if no updates exist for the programs or techniques used on your website, it’s time to get a new website. Some of the elements that were extremely popular and trendy just a few years ago are now obsolete. Flash-based websites were all the rage, but in the past year or so most browsers and devices stopped supporting Flash. iFrames used to be a great way to structure a page, but there are better, less buggy methods available now. Intro pages, tables, huge graphic elements and outdated content formatting are just some of the other outdated things that need to be replaced or removed.

#3 – Your Traffic Has Decreased Dramatically
Outdated web design methods don’t just look bad, they can also negatively affect your website’s rankings in the popular search engines. Gone are the cumbersome HTML designs of the past, today’s websites load quickly and easily without a lot of weighed-down elements. CSS can help to streamline a page and standards-compliant markup language can go a long way toward increasing your site’s accessibility. Other programs, including content management systems, create SEO-friendly pages and structures that can boost your ranking.

#4 – You Aren’t Using CMS
A content management system (CMS) is the best way to organize and structure your website. This is particularly beneficial to e-commerce websites that offer a variety of products or services for sale, as well as organizations that produce a lot of text, image or video content for their visitors. CMS makes it easy to always have fresh content on your website, giving your staff secure, password-protected web-based admin tools that allow content to be added, updated, removed or moved within the site structure. Every professional website should have some sort of CMS structure in place.

#5 – Your Top Competitor Got a New Design
It is important to pay attention to what competing websites and businesses are doing. This is particularly true when it comes to their web presence. Whenever one of your competitors changes or redesigns their website, you should seriously consider making a change too. Your competition will get a boost of traffic from the new design, as well as fresh interaction from your target customer base with any new tools or options available. You should never copy a competitors’ web design, but you should see what they are doing and make sure you are offering comparable experiences to your visitors too.

If you would like to learn more about how you can improve your website design today, contact New Bedford Internet for a free consultation at 508-415-8648.