Should I Upgrade My Website?

Getting your first website was most likely a major investment for your business. You may have been relieved when the project was completed and then just gotten on with the business of running your business. 

But after 5-10 years, you may have started to notice your website looking a bit outdated, or perhaps it just doesn’t do all the new whizzbang things you want your website to do.  5-10 years in tech years is like 100 dog years. Technology that wasn’t around 10 years ago, is now commonplace and your tired website is likely not converting at the levels it used to. 

So perhaps it’s time to upgrade your website. If the developers told you something wasn’t possible ten years ago, that’s probably not the case now, so if you’re thinking about updating and upgrading your website, go for it! 

In the past, many businesses had website design companies such as web design Auckland create their website and write the code, rather than using an open-source platform. Unfortunately, though, you were left with a website that you couldn’t update and maintain. This means that your information, testimonials, pictures etc are not performing for you how you need them to. 

Your receptionist used to be the front face of your business. They were the first impression your prospective customers had of your business. Your office or shopfront created the image of whether your business was what they needed or could provide the services they wanted. Today, that first impression is your website.

Some questions to ask yourself when considering upgrading your website are: 

• Does your website grab people’s attention and lead them to where you want them to go? 
• Is it easy to navigate? Will the user be able to find what they need immediately?
• Is the content up to date with current photos, prices, information, testimonials, gallery images, case studies etc? 
• Does it encourage people to trust your service enough to buy from it?
• Is the logo and branding current or boring and stale? 
• Are your customers lead through your sales funnel? Do you have a sales funnel?
• Does your website load fast? Is it putting people off by loading slowly? 
• Does your website adapt immediately to different devices, given that more people use mobile and tablets than desktops these days? 

If your website is lacking and falling behind those of your competitors, you can be sure you’re missing out on sales and giving away your slice of your industries’ pie directly to your competitors. So don’t sulk about it, get into action and improve your website! 

The Many Benefits of Upgrading Your Website

1. Content Is King – Did you know that Google values quality content, not junk content? So maybe it’s time to update your old content and make it better (Unless, you’re already performing well on the search engines). Does your website tell your whole story of what you do today, or does it show what your business was when the website was initially designed?

2. Mobile-Friendly Experience – 60% of people use their mobile device to find you. Most older websites don’t translate well to mobiles as they were built differently from what is needed for a good mobile experience.

3. Social Media – Does your website show where else your customers can find you? Facebook, Instagram, Twitter etc are big bonuses to your business as it allows your customers to have more frequent contact with you.

4. Landing Pages – If you are advertising on social media, you need to direct your potential clients to your website, but just sending them to your front page isn’t enough. You want to capture their information so that when they leave your site you still can reach out to them.

5. Graphics – If your website looks boring or old you will not keep a viewer on the page long. Having the latest images of your work, or your products, services and staff gives them a more intimate connection with you and your business. It also keeps their attention longer

6. Simple Navigation – Websites need to be cohesive and allow your viewer to find what they want quickly and easily. But navigation panels aren’t limited to what they were when you first designed your website. You can have multiple navigation bars within different pages that allow your customers to find what they need smoothly.

7. Call To Action – Once you have someone on your site, what is your objective? Do you want them to place an order, contact you, and sign up for a newsletter? It needs to be clear to them what action to take next.

8. Branding – Will your customers remember you from what they see on your website? Does it present a cohesive branding footprint? You don’t want to be just another website they researched. You need to be memorable.

9. Keywords – your content isn’t limited to the words on a page. It should also include vital keywords that will enhance customers’ ability to find you on Google. 

10. Analytics – It’s fine to have a website, but how do you know how effective it is? Do you know how many people view your website? Do you know how long they stay on the site and what pages they view? 

Website technology has made managing and maintaining your website so much easier than when you would have created your current website. Unfortunately, it is much harder to update your website from old technology. 

Sometimes we just need to bite the bullet and start again. Designing a new website will be so much easier this time because you know what you need to know. The first time around it was cumbersome because you didn’t really know everything that needed to be included.

Your website is the only employee that never goes to bed. It doesn’t ask you for a pay raise but can definitely benefit from spending a little bit of money on it to ensure it remains the most valuable worker in your business.