When you run a business, you face many decisions every day and every year. Some simple and some complex. When to adapt, when to abandon a technology or strategy, and when to try something new. Especially for businesses that have been established for some time, their websites may not have gotten the attention they deserve or have fallen by the wayside. Knowing when to give your website a complete refresh before it does not serve your customers in the way it once did helps you stay ahead of the curve and keep your business thriving. Here are some things to look for in your website to determine when it’s time for a refresh.
Visual Appearance
This may seem obvious but visuals have a lot to do with how a site is perceived. As the site owner you may not have noticed how this has declined over the years. Even sites that are not as old but utilized heavy trends from a certain time period may already be perceived as outdated. Fonts and colors usually tell a lot about when the site was built.
Poor User Experience
If the site has been added onto over time, sometimes this can create a hodgepodge of links and pages and posts that don’t really make any sense anymore. Users won’t know if you only linked a page using a button way down at the bottom. Experiences like this one and others can leave your customers frustrated and likely to leave the site if they don’t find what they need quickly.
Technology Alignment
As you possibly adapt new technologies within your business structure, you may not have thought to integrate them with your website. This could mean entering information twice, or systems not communicating with each other, making your day to day busier and taking time away from other important things. If your website is actively frustrating you in either updating or connecting systems, it might be time for a refresh so your website can help you again.
If any of these sound like your site, you might want to start the process of thinking about next steps for your website. To us, these all indicate that it is time for a refresh. Valuing your website as a changing member of your business strategy is a smart move. If you’ve been looking at your website for too long and need some objective eyes to determine next steps, let us take a peek and provide some guidance on what options you have. We’d be happy to help!