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Five Signs It’s Time for a Website Redesign

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As we recently went through a website redesign ourselves, we would like to revisit how we came to the decision that it was needed in the first place. We are going to explore five telling signs that it may be time for a website redesign and how up-front analysis can help shape your future website plans.

Overall, your site feels “out-dated”

This should be an obvious one. One of the first signs that it’s time for a website redesign is when you and your team feels that the website is visually outdated. And if you’re feeling it’s outdated, it’s likely that your visitor feels the same way. On average, it takes 50 milliseconds for a visitor to form an opinion on your website, so better make those first moments impressive!

While some studies suggest organizations are likely to perform a redesign every three years, it’s difficult to confirm as the landscape is ever changing. However, it’s not uncommon to begin to notice that your once new-and-improved site is again feeling less modern. Ideally, you are striving to stay aligned with constantly-evolving current trends, so it’s important to highlight your expertise—and your website is a direct representation of that knowledge.

Your site is no longer hitting or increasing your benchmark metrics

Your website is built in order to produce specific results, so what happens when it is no longer converting?

If you’re noticing a decline in metrics or seeing that your visitors are coming to your site only to leave quickly, it might be time to consider making a change. One way to know for sure is to utilize Google Analytics to perform a deep dive of your current metrics and determine where you should be vs. where you are. Google Analytics can provide valuable information such as where your visitors are coming from, how long they stay, what content is performing best, and more. This type of information can help you make informed decisions moving forward.

Maintaining monthly analytics reviews to get a pulse check on the metrics that matter most to you will be a strong indicator of when it’s time for a change or enhancement that better supports those metric goals.

It’s too slow!

Regardless of how your website looks, if it isn’t performing for the visitor, they aren’t going to stay. The overall goal is for a visitor to review your site and ultimately make a conversion. In order for them to do that, they have to be able to quickly access the page form whichever device they are on. A Google Data study shows that “sites that load in five seconds (compared to those that load in 19) see 70% longer average sessions.” This is further proof that your audience has a certain expectation when visiting your site and if you capture their attention in the first place, they will be more inclined to stay and continue through your user journey.

Additionally, now more than ever is it important to have your website speed performing not only on desktop, but on mobile as well. With nearly 60% of web search coming from mobile, timely site speed on all devices is vital and expected.

Your competitors are updating their websites

While this isn’t something that necessarily screams it’s time for a redesign, it is a good indicator of what others are doing in the space. Taking a look at your competitors websites to assess their strengths and weaknesses, as well as gathering an idea of what you like vs. dislike, can be a beneficial exercise to perform every so often.

This information can provide a helpful advantage as you look to assess your own website and make decisions on what you would like to include. The goal isn’t to replicate what others are doing, but it’s always helpful to have a check on how your competitors are engaging with your target audience.

Your branding, marketing goals or overall offerings have changed

Last, it should come as no shock that your website identity should be a direct reflection of your brand story. As your marketing goals are ever evolving, it’s likely that your strategy has shifted, your key objectives have grown, or you’ve launched a new offering since your last redesign.

While you can’t redesign your website every month, it should always paint an accurate picture of your brand. It’s smart to set up routine audits on your content, product pages, and user flows to ensure that information is the best-possible representation of your services and brand voice.

Remember, your website is an impactful representation of your brand, product suite, and overall values. As you begin to evaluate your website and a potential redesign, make sure you’re taking into account all of the factors that are most valuable to your specific goals. To learn more about our recent redesign experience, check out our recent blog post outlining our full end-to-end process.

Last Updated: Jun 25, 2020 11:00 AM

Photo of Daisy Perper

Daisy Perper
Marketing Specialist

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Web Design