As we recently went through a website redesign ourselves, we would like to revisit how we came to the decision that it was needed in the first place. We are going to explore five telling signs that it may be time for a website redesign and how up-front analysis can help shape your future website plans.
This should be an obvious one. One of the first signs that it’s time for a website redesign is when you and your team feels that the website is visually outdated. And if you’re feeling it’s outdated, it’s likely that your visitor feels the same way. On average, it takes 50 milliseconds for a visitor to form an opinion on your website, so better make those first moments impressive!
While some studies suggest organizations are likely to perform a redesign every three years, it’s difficult to confirm as the landscape is ever changing. However, it’s not uncommon to begin to notice that your once new-and-improved site is again feeling less modern. Ideally, you are striving to stay aligned with constantly-evolving current trends, so it’s important to highlight your expertise—and your website is a direct representation of that knowledge.
Your website is built in order to produce specific results, so what happens when it is no longer converting?
If you’re noticing a decline in metrics or seeing that your visitors are coming to your site only to leave quickly, it might be time to consider making a change. One way to know for sure is to utilize Google Analytics to perform a deep dive of your current metrics and determine where you should be vs. where you are. Google Analytics can provide valuable information such as where your visitors are coming from, how long they stay, what content is performing best, and more. This type of information can help you make informed decisions moving forward.
Maintaining monthly analytics reviews to get a pulse check on the metrics that matter most to you will be a strong indicator of when it’s time for a change or enhancement that better supports those metric goals.
Regardless of how your website looks, if it isn’t performing for the visitor, they aren’t going to stay. The overall goal is for a visitor to review your site and ultimately make a conversion. In order for them to do that, they have to be able to quickly access the page form whichever device they are on. A Google Data study shows that “sites that load in five seconds (compared to those that load in 19) see 70% longer average sessions.” This is further proof that your audience has a certain expectation when visiting your site and if you capture their attention in the first place, they will be more inclined to stay and continue through your user journey.
Additionally, now more than ever is it important to have your website speed performing not only on desktop, but on mobile as well. With nearly 60% of web search coming from mobile, timely site speed on all devices is vital and expected.
While this isn’t something that necessarily screams it’s time for a redesign, it is a good indicator of what others are doing in the space. Taking a look at your competitors websites to assess their strengths and weaknesses, as well as gathering an idea of what you like vs. dislike, can be a beneficial exercise to perform every so often.
This information can provide a helpful advantage as you look to assess your own website and make decisions on what you would like to include. The goal isn’t to replicate what others are doing, but it’s always helpful to have a check on how your competitors are engaging with your target audience.
Last Updated: Jun 25, 2020 11:00 AM
