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Why Modernising Your Website Design is Essential for Business Growth
If your website is the backbone of your business - then why are you ignoring it?
In today's digital age, having an online presence is crucial for the success of any business. A well-designed website is one of the most important aspects of this online presence, as it can help attract and retain customers.
However, many businesses fail to realise the negative impact an outdated website design can have on their business. In a constantly evolving world of technology the digital world is flourishing with new ideas every single day. In order to keep your brand fresh and exciting it is imperative to update your website every 3 - 5 years. Let’s explore how your outdated website design could be affecting your business growth.
Have you ever stumbled upon a website that looks like it's been sitting in a time capsule since the dawn of the internet? We feel your pain! A website should be a powerhouse that leaves a lasting impression on your visitors, captures your brand essence, and draws in the right customers at the right time.
As a bunch of digital creatives, we understand that the key to achieving all of this is by taking your clients on a journey from search to conversion. But if your website is sending mixed messages and giving off major early-2000s vibes, you're losing out on potential customers and hindering your business growth. Don't wait until Carlton wins another Premiership to update your site – start now! Here are our thoughts on why giving your website the ‘Marie Kondo’ experience is the way to go:
Website Design & User Experience
It's surprising how many little things can turn your customers away from your website - before they've had a chance to discover all the advantages your business has to offer. eCommerce industry research suggests that 90% of consumers will not buy from SMB websites that appear outdated or neglected.
As our digital world becomes increasingly crowded, a website's design and user experience can make or break a business.
You need a competitive advantage that speaks to your clients before they see the products.
Content: It’s not just what you say, it’s HOW you say it
Your website's content is the backbone of your digital presence. But even the most well-written copy won't do your business any good if it's presented in a cluttered, confusing layout. A great website design takes your content and organizes it in a way that's easy to understand and engaging to read. From using eye-catching headlines to incorporating multimedia elements, a well-designed website will keep visitors interested and eager to learn more about your business.
Aesthetics: looking good never felt so great
First impressions matter, and your website's appearance is often the first thing a potential customer sees. A beautiful, modern design signals to customers that you're a legitimate and professional business. Fresh original images or licensed stock photography, engaging innovative experiential and informative videos, antiquated fonts, modern colour schemes and design function, enticing product information, and compelling blogs and FAQs are just the beginning.
UX / Navigation: Getting from point A to point B without Google Maps
Your website's navigation can make or break a customer's experience. A confusing, labyrinthine style website will leave visitors frustrated and ready to click away. On the other hand, a website with intuitive navigation and a clear user flow will keep customers engaged and more likely to complete a desired action, such as making a purchase or filling out a contact form.
Functionality: Your Website has a ‘Need for Speed’
A site that loads quickly and has intuitive navigation is crucial for providing a seamless user experience. According to Google, the average user leaves a site that takes more than 3 seconds to load. That means that having a speedy website is essential for retaining visitors and keeping them engaged with your content. From choosing the right hosting provider to optimising images and code, it’s important to ensure that your website is fast and responsive. This attention to detail not only improves the user experience but also contributes to better search engine optimisation (SEO).
Search: Get the ranking you deserve
Speaking of SEO, it's another essential element to consider when designing a website. In simple terms, SEO refers to the practice of improving the visibility and ranking of your website in search engine results pages (SERPs). The higher your website ranks, the more likely it is that people will find and visit your site.
100% Responsive - Mobile First Design
We’ll talk about this until we’re blue in the face. Your website MUST be fully responsive and mobile-friendly. Since the iPhone launched in 2007 the push towards mobile dominance resulted in mobile traffic surpassing desktop in 2016.
'92.3% of internet users access the internet using a mobile phone' (Data Reportal)
The truth is - if your business isn't optimised for mobile you are losing conversions.
100% Responsive design, images, AMP Pages (speed), and site assets will all help your customers stay on your site and make the conversion you are looking for.
Website Security Website Security
Your website is vulnerable if you haven’t been regularly patched and applied security updates through hosting, web platforms, and CMS. It’s a worthwhile effort to benefit ratio if your website is hacked, subject to DDOS attack or goes down without a backup. Statistically speaking - it's only a matter of time. With recent large scale hacking events making news headlines, it's imperative to keep your website security up to hate to maintain a secure environment and gain/maintain client trust. Here’s the bare minimum of what this requires:
Using HTTPS with an SSL Certificate
This is an added layer of encryption between your server and the user and a non-negotiable for Google Search rankings.
Software updates
Performing regular software updates, maintenance, and platform security patches. Hackers are on their toes. You need to be, too.
Cloud and VPS servers
When your business is ready to grow and move from a shared server environment, these 2 options will allow you to scale with more flexibility and security.
2FA and passwords
Most online platforms now require a longer more complex password including symbols, numbers, capitals and minimum length. Better still is implementing a two-factor authenticator like Google Authenticator. It’s that simple extra step that will truly secure your logins.
Browsing and antivirus
Viruses and malware are still out there and even the biggest institutions are still vulnerable. Educate your employees, using spam filters, and being ever vigilant of any outside phishing links.
Organic Search Engine Optimisation
Organic Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is the bread and butter of any successful website. We go into this in further depth about SEO in this article but in review here are the top items you need to be concerned about.
Your website ranking is determined by website rank, URL age, backlinks, metadata, search relevance (bounce rate) and page speed. All of these factors will determine where and when your website is shown, how often, and in which position when someone is searching for keywords that you use in your website metadata. If your website design is outdated, you can bet that your SEO efforts will be ineffective.
Search engines are constantly evolving and updating their algorithms to better understand and deliver relevant content to users. If your website isn't keeping up with these changes, your organic search rankings will suffer. You may be missing out on potential customers who are searching for the products or services you offer, but can't find your website because it's buried on the second or third page of search results.
Google is your friend - PPC Google Ads
We talk to clients about this every week. Get the content and conversion right, THEN launch your ads. Sending traffic to a website that has no clear call to action or purpose is throwing money into the wind. That traffic you are paying for is going nowhere. You need to have a VERY clear landing page that immediately tells the client what they are supposed to do.Your Google Ads will be successful based on a combination of factors but mainly:
1. Page Rank = the quality of experience, relevance, and conversions created on your landing page.
2. Ad Quality the quality, relevance and strength of your Ad copy.
3. Bid Strategy - how you are bidding for keywords, audiences, demographics, time of day, location, and placement.
Is your website stuck in the early 2000's?
Freshening your content, providing relevant information around intent, and a great experience to your users will help you drive your paid and organic traffic to the conversions that you need to grow your business.Starting a business is exciting, and getting a website up and running is often the first step. But, many start-ups make the mistake of rushing into it without considering their customers' needs. And established businesses can get caught up in their brand without keeping their website up-to-date.
To stay ahead of the game, it's essential to future-proof your brand. This means aligning your assets and activities with future growth in mind. Without doing so, you risk losing customers to your competitors who are staying on top of technology trends and user experience. It's crucial to review your website regularly and consider new technologies to enhance your online presence.
A website refresh or starting from scratch can improve your site performance, features, and functionality, providing a more personalized experience that converts leads, increases ROI, and boosts sales. After all, that's why we're all here, right?
If you're ready to learn how to improve your website performance - or thinking about a website refresh, reach out to our digital agency Melbourne creative team today. Need to refresh your website?
