Websites are essentially your face on the internet. It is the first thing that people will find when they search your name, and it will either have them hooked or put them off. It is a marketing tool that should help you gain more business and clients, and should always be updated. Without a good website, your online marketing and advertising will be pointless. There are new features being released every day that you should take advantage of to make your site seem more professional. Here are some signs that you should update your website according to top marketing agencies in Los Angeles.
1. Your website doesn’t make a good first impression
“First impressions last.” When someone visits your website, you only have 3-4 seconds to make a good first impression. Usually, the attention span of a new customer is very short, so if they don’t stay during the first few seconds, most likely they are not going to come back. Even if your product or service is known to be the best, yet your website leaves a wrong first impression, a customer will prefer to go to the competitor. Try entering the headspace of a new website visitor and look at your website to see what it looks like. You can also try to ask friends and family what comes to mind first when they look at the homepage of your website.
2. Your website isn’t memorable
“Almost everyone will make a good first impression, but only a few will make a good lasting impression.” Once you got a good first impression, you must work towards keeping the customers interested in your website. Everyone around your area will most likely have the same type of site, so you must stand out and be memorable. A website with a fresh and new look can help you to create a good lasting impression. Nothing says “trendy, successful and professional” more than a well-made website with new features and updated content. In order to beat your competition and stay ahead of the game, you must give your clients and new visitors a reason to use your website and to talk about it later. Mix it up by using new colors, fonts, and new content.
Marketing agencies in Los Angeles always experiment with risky features and colors, so you shouldn’t be afraid to try new things. Nowadays everything is the same and people are tired of it and are always on the lookout, something that’s different. Take the time to recall some websites that have had a lasting impression on you, and try to figure out which features contributed to this good impression and incorporate something similar to your website.
3. Your website doesn’t reflect your brand
As a business owner, how you see yourself and your products and how the audience sees you is your brand. Finding and building your brand may sound complicated, but it isn’t very difficult. Firstly, you must discover how you see yourself and your company and then how others see you. Gather some information from friends and family by surveys or something similar to find out how others see you. Now, combine these two descriptions and voila you have your brand. It is essential that you portray your brand through your website as it is what people should notice and think of first. Your brand should include your objectives, morals, and goals, and those should somehow come across when someone views your website.
- You have undergone a rebranding
Of course, no one expects your brand to stay the same forever. Just as people change, so do companies, and their brands should change alongside them. A rebranding can mean new logo design, tagline, new colors, and fonts, or even a completely new brand guideline. Your website should be a big part of your online marketing strategy, so just as your brand changes, so should your website. It will seem unprofessional and highly off-putting if you have changed the whole “look” of your company, yet your website still reflects your old beliefs and designs. It will also confuse any newcomers who know of your new brand and try to look up more information about you.
4. Your website is outdated
This is the point that can really make or break the experience of a visitor on your website.
The saying “Old school is cool” shouldn’t be applicable to the functionality of your website. The internet, digital media, and online marketing are ever-evolving tools and go through many changes and shifts each year. The standards for websites customers have in their heads change alongside the development of new tools and technologies. The potential clients’ likes, dislikes, and preferences change just as fast, and what was trendy and popular, may become outdated tomorrow. If you want your website to be effective and bring in revenue, you need to become agile with your strategy and website. If your website was built 1-2 years ago or even later, then it is very likely very behind in terms of design and functionality. The code is probably outdated and is slowing down the loading speed. There may also be new browsers that have requirements that your website doesn’t meet, so it is incompatible with the newer websites clients are using. Just because the content is updated and fresh, does not necessarily mean the website is. Even if you feel sentimental and attached to your old website design, it is time to upgrade it to increase clients and revenue.
- Non-mobile-friendly websites
This is one of the gravest mistakes you can make as a company when it comes to a website. 50% of internet users use their mobile phones for access. Imagine if someone is walking down the street and notices your company name and wants to check it out while they’re on the bus. Or if a friend recommended your company in a text message, and the person doesn’t want to go get their laptop. So many potential customers will be lost if your website is not mobile-friendly. Even if you have top-notch design and content, if a website isn’t responsive on the phone, many customers will turn away from your company. Marketing agencies in Los Angeles have concluded that over 60% of all website traffic is conducted by mobile devices. Chances are most of your customers are in that 60% who want to access your website on their phone. You can be very sure that at some point, the rest of the customers will want to use your website on their phone too. It is also highly likely that the first interaction a potential customer will have with your website is on a mobile phone if they discover you through social media such as Instagram or Twitter. Mobile phone traffic isn’t going away anytime soon, and your website shouldn’t either. With may new website templates, you can choose to show or hide specific page blocks only on a mobile device, to optimize and engage the user more with your site. You will be surprised how many more customers you will attract with a fresh website with al the new features and a mobile-accessible option.
5. Ineffective Pathway
When a customer enters your page, there should be a logical pathway they follow. For effective website design, you will need an effective menu. This menu should be attractive to click on and should include all your pages. Aside from the menu, all your pages should encourage the customer to stay on your website and should lead them to the next page on your website. If your website includes a whole variety of content, a great tool to include on your site is a search bar. If a customer has come onto your website searching for something specific, they should be able to find it using the search bar. But as I mentioned above, you should also find a way to make them stay, with a “recommended” section or something similar to help them find other things you offer.
- “Call to Action” missing
If you’re wondering what a call-to-action is, then this is your first mistake. Everyone knows a website should have a contact me page, but most customers do not have time to look for it or to fill out their contact details. A call-to-action is simply a button or an area of your website that encourages action such as “sign-up now” or “get started today.” This is not just a button, or you can add randomly here and there. It must be placed strategically in order to keep the customer’s interest and offer them the opportunity to see more content and keep up with your website. You must never your potential customers wondering what their next step to see more content is. It must be subtle and intuitive but easy-to-find.
6. You have a high bounce rate
This is a very important factor for your website. If you have been spending time and money on an SEO and a marketing strategy, chances are you are successively bringing a lot of traffic to your website. But, right as they access the homepage of your website, the bounce right off, that means you have a big problem. You are losing clients and potential customers.
Your bounce rate defines the percentage of visitors to your website who exit the website after only viewing one page. A high bounce rate means that something you are doing is wrong; it has to do with either the content, the navigation, or the overall design of your website. Generally, a 40-60% bounce rate is considered to be normal, but this can vary according to the industry. You can check the bounce rate of your website using Google Analytics. Log in and then access the Acquisition >> Overview tab. Your end goal of a website should be to make your bounce rate as low as possible. Having a low bounce rate shows that visitors find your website to be worth their time. So, the lower your bounce rate is, the more opportunities there are to increase sales. Experiment with new designs, fonts, colors, and content. After some time, use an analytics site to see if the bounce rate has changed. If it has lowered, this means customers are liking this new look and stick around longer on your website. If the bounce rate has stayed the same or has gone higher, then try out other new features and designs to see if those will change the rate. The bounce rate of your website is one of the key clues into how your website is doing with customers, so take advantage of this and use it to its fullest potential. Many marketing agencies in Los Angeles would consider the bounce rate one of the most important tools in a website designer toolbox.
7. Your website is too slow: website update is needed
The target loading time of your website should be under 5 seconds. If you aren’t sure how fast your website loads, you can use tools like GTmetrix or Pingdom to check how long it takes for your site to open, along with which files are causing it to be slow. Remember to test everything, as it may be fast on Internet Explorer, but slow on Google Chrome. You must always keep in mind that you only have 4 seconds to make a good impression on a potential client. If 3 of those 4 seconds are spent on loading your website, then this will cause a big problem, because the visitor will exit your website before they even see the design you spent so much time on. Don’t miss out on opportunities by making a fresh design but having no one around to see it.
A few more words about website update.
If you went through this list and found it relatable to your website, then take this as a sign from the universe that you need to update it! Remember that your website, not a liability, and it is there to promote your work and help new customers discover your brand, so treat it like an asset. Any marketing agency in Los Angeles will tell you that no harm can be done with a website update, so what are you waiting for, get to redesigning
