How To Know When It’s Time To Refresh Your Website.

When was the last time someone took a look behind-the-scenes at your website? For some business owners, the answer might be never…

But if you’ve had your website for at least 2-3 years, it’s likely that it’s not performing as well as it could, and it might be time for a refresh.

Here’s how to know when it’s time to refresh your website.

How to know when it’s time to refresh your website.

Did you know, according to an eye-tracking study by the Missouri University of Science and Technology, you have less than 0.2 seconds to make a positive impression with your website?

Make the wrong impression, and you’ve lost another potential customer.

With this knowledge, business owners looking to increase website conversions should actively ensure their website is not only designed to attract & convert clients but also that it’s up-to-date, and performing at its best.

Part of this is regularly updating your website (ideally, at least twice per month) with photos and new content, as well as testing and updating any broken links.

But where many business owners fall short, is thinking that simply updating their website is enough. The truth is, updates are an essential part of website health & performance, but as a general rule, you should look to refresh your website every 2-3 years.

A web design company like Edwards Design can help you with this.

Data Credit: Goodfirms.com

What’s the difference between a website update and a refresh?

Think of a website update like keeping your room clean. On the surface, you’re making sure it’s tidy, presentable, and pleasant to be in.

On the other hand, a website refresh is more of a spring clean. You tackle the areas that are usually hidden under the bed, in the drawers, and in the wardrobe. It’s a deep clean, throwing out anything that doesn’t serve a purpose, and making room to better reflect the new you.

This could include updating your copywriting (the words on your website) to be more relevant and better reflect your business. It could also be removing old, irrelevant pages, and adding new pages.

For many business owners, this is a great time to completely change the look and feel of their website—allowing them to send a more sophisticated message, to reflect the last few years of growth in their business.

An often overlooked part of refreshing your website is also auditing your domain & hosting plan, and even your website platform.

Many of our clients at Edwards Design are established businesses that have evolved over the last 2-3 years, and simply want a new, professional and modern website to stay competitive and keep their businesses moving forward.

Our key focus is migrating websites over to Squarespace, due to its ease of use for the business owner, meaning they can save thousands every year by managing their websites themselves. Once we’ve built your new website on Squarespace, we train you to manage and edit your site yourself with ease.

5 signs it’s time for a website refresh.

There are a number of signs that indicate it’s time for a website refresh. In particular, we’ve identified 5 common signs. Here they are:

1. Your website traffic & conversions have hit a wall.

If your traffic has stopped trending upward (meaning the number of people visiting your website is no longer increasing), then it’s time to refresh your website.

2. Your website is outdated and you’re embarrassed to show people.

Your website is usually the first place people go to learn about your business, so needs to put your best foot forward. If it’s outdated, full of irrelevant information, or you’re just embarrassed to show people, then it’s time to refresh your website.

3. You want a new website but don’t know where/how to start.

You may just be ready for a new website, but don’t know what to do, or where to start. This is a great time to reach out to a Web Design Company like Edwards Design to discuss your options and map out a plan.

4. Your website isn’t responsive or optimised for mobile.

Over 50% of search traffic is now conducted on mobile. This means that if your website isn’t mobile-responsive, you’re losing over half of your potential website customers before you’ve even had a chance to prove yourself.

5. People are visiting your website but they’re not converting.

If you’re getting the traffic, but it’s not converting into leads or sales, then it’s time to take a look at refreshing your website. There could be a thousand reasons why people aren’t converting, but without taking a closer look, it’s all guesswork.

How an outdated website can hurt your business.

First, it’s important to understand how people respond to bad design.

We (humans) are wired to view things that are beautiful (visually-appealing design) as trustworthy and better quality.

Conversely, we feel the opposite way about things that aren’t beautiful.

So even though your website might have all the necessary information that your customers need to make a purchasing decision, the outdated design is creating the wrong impression.

It sends the message that you’re not trustworthy, or good-quality.

Even if you didn’t change a single thing in terms of the content (photos, text, etc.), you can increase business simply by revamping your website’s design to be more visually-appealing, thus creating more trust amongst your website visitors.

Your online presence reflects your level of care for what you do.

Even if this may not be true for you—you can absolutely care about your business and customers, and still have a poor online presence—this is how your website visitors feel when they see your outdated website.

It leaves them questioning the quality and level of care that you have for what you do.

Think about it…if you’re purchasing something, you want to be certain that you’re going to be looked after.

And when you’re researching the right business to hire/buy from, you’re going to choose the one who looks the most professional, and who creates the impression that they care the most.

If your competitors have better websites, you’re fighting an uphill battle.

How are you supposed to compete when your competitors look more serious, professional and modern?

Even if your service is a thousand times better, you’re not giving people a chance to trust you, all because your website isn’t doing its job against your competitors’ sites.

Your website needs to stand out, create trust and convey the message you wish to communicate.

If it’s not doing that, you’re missing out on a lot of customers that could have chosen you if your website was more up-to-date.

Time for a website refresh?

If you think it might be time to refresh your website, I might be a great fit to help you! Edwards Design is a Squarespace Web Design & Management Studio, and I’ve received a lot of kind words from clients for my Adelaide Web Design services.

Get in touch with me to discuss your website refresh, and we’ll have a quick, no-pressure chat to see how I might be able to help you with your website.