Why You Should Update Your Website Now [+ Quiz: Does My Website Suck?]

Home » Why You Should Update Your Website Now [+ Quiz: Does My Website Suck?]

Has COVID-19 Impacted Your Organization?

When organizations face periods of uncertainty one of the most common areas to see cuts or budget reductions is marketing. But, this isn’t always a good decision. 

Success in marketing doesn’t happen overnight. It is a process that occurs over a period of time. Reducing or cutting the budget from your marketing could have an impact well after things return to normal.  When your customers are ready to spend, your campaign is still in development. 

Digital Giants believes that right now is a good opportunity to consider a new website. If your organization has a little extra time, even discussing a new website could prepare you for the future and help you get one step closer to improving your online sales process. 

Why Your Website May Not Be High Performing

Part of what we do here at Digital Giants is assessing websites for organizations. After reviewing hundreds of sites in the past 5+  years, we can quickly determine why a website sucks. Then, we dive into analytics to prove why it’s not doing what it should be doing… and of course, how it can be improved. Because that’s the beauty of a website — it’s measurable and fixable, often with just minor tweaks.

Digital Giants has compiled the top reasons why your website might not be high-performing.

You Can’t Update Your Website

Need to update your customers or potential customers? The first place you should publish any sort of announcement is your website. This includes during times of uncertainty – like the COVID-19 Pandemic. Is your business open? Are you open different hours? Has your service line changed? 

If you physically cannot update your website because its old, or its too difficult, you need to consider a new website. Thanks to technology, even the most digitally inexperienced people can learn to add blog posts or change the text on their website.

Example of an old website that must be edited using code:

Your Website is Outdated

Do you have a responsive website design? If the answer is no, your website is absolutely outdated – you need a new site, yesterday.

Most customers today expect a clean, modern website that they can view on any device: phone, tablet or desktop. If your site looks like it’s from ten years ago or your site is overwhelmed with content, it’s time for a new site.

Example of a website that is outdated:

Example of responsive website design: 

Your Website Speed is Slow

Time is money and no one has the time or patience to wait for a slow page to load, especially those on mobile devices. Page speed is also a ranking factor for search engines like Google. So, if you want people to visit your site make sure it loads in under 5 seconds.

Your Website Navigation is Confusing

Navigation and user experience are two of the most important components of a high performing website. Visitors should be able to find what they are looking for quickly and easily. 

If you have multiple sections or paths to purchase, make sure each of them is clearly distinguished and the information is easy to find without going through several pages.

Ask yourself this question: Is your website easy to use for the average person? If you’re unsure, ask the least tech-savvy person you know to use your website and provide feedback.

Example of poor navigation experience: 

Your Text is Too Painful to Read

There is a good chance that at least half of your website traffic comes from mobile users. If your site is not optimized for the user experience on mobile you are missing out on potential conversions. 

When including text on your webpages, it needs to be large enough to read but short enough that the user can consume it quickly. If your webpages are a wall of text it makes for unpleasant user experience, difficult for your users to find information, and may cause users to abandon their journey. 

It is a good idea to use a variety of different media types or at least break content up with images. This breaks up the sections of the page and makes it easier for the user to distinguish the different sections. 

Example of a non-mobile responsive website, and mobile responsive website:

You Don’t Have Any Calls To Action

Customers might be visiting your site but if you aren’t receiving phone calls or emails, chances are, you’re lacking clear calls to action. From your homepage and again throughout your content, ask your customers to take some kind of action where you are capturing their information or having them contact you directly.

Example of a call to action button:

Your Website Doesn’t Match Your Brand

Your website is an extension of your brand and should follow all of your branding guidelines. You want the appearance of your website to be consistent with how your audience sees you in the real world. Ask yourself these questions:

  • Do the colours on your website match your brand? 
  • Is your favicon (the little picture in the browser tab) your logo? 
  • Does your website reflect your brand’s voice?  
  • Does it look like a professional website?

Example of a website that doesn’t match the brand:

Your Customers Don’t Know How to Contact You

Do not rely solely on your “Contact Us” page. Your phone number, email, and address should be clearly defined on each page. Some customers still may need to contact you via telephone, it’s important to provide them with that information.

Quiz: Does My Website Suck?

Find out if your own website sucks by taking our 5-minute quiz: 

Build a High Performing Website For The Future

Now that you know why your website sucks, it’s time to build a website that works for your business and your clients and will help you to grow your leads and sales.

Building a new website is not a small project but if your facing a period of down-time, now may be a great time to get started doing research, understanding your audience, gathering content and researching potential web development firms.

We’d be happy to connect with you about what a new website can do with your business. Contact us anytime.

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