Your Web site is one of the public faces your company presents to the world. It is part of the image potential customers, investors and employees form of your company before they even talk to a single team member.
Today, when the internet is the first place many people look when they want to find a service provider or product, company Web sites are more important than ever. When was the last time you had a refresh of the design of your company Web site? If it has been more than a few years, you may be overdue for a new site. Here are some reasons you may want to consider a Web site redesign.
1) Web design technology changes over time.
Just like computers and smart phones, Web site design and development technology is constantly changing and evolving. HTML, the language in which Web sites are created, is a living language with new capabilities added regularly. For example, not that many years ago there was no way to delineate a phone number field with HTML. There wasn’t any need because so few people used their computer to make phone calls. But starting in December of 2011, a telephone tag was added. This means that mobile visitors can touch the phone number on a Web page and have the number ready to dial automatically. If your site was developed before December of 2011, this technology couldn’t have been used. And that’s just one example in a very long list.
Not only are new ways of doing things added, but old ways of doing things are removed (or deprecated). This can affect how your site looks on different Web browsers (like newer versions of Internet Explorer). And many of these changes were introduced to allow people with disabilities to have an easier time navigating the Web. Older code can be really tough for disabled people to use but newer code is usually much easier.
2) Mobile use and technology have skyrocketed.
Over 60% of Web site traffic now comes from mobile devices, according to a study by comScore.
If your Web site isn’t optimized for mobile, its past time to fix that. And it isn’t tough to do with today’s technology. One of the ways HTML has changed is to provide more and more options to make it easier to view and use a Web site on a mobile device (like a smart phone or tablet).
Just a few years ago, companies had to create an entirely separate web site for mobile devices and that site wasn’t able to tell the size of the screen viewing the site. This meant that your experience on that site could vary greatly depending on the size of screen you were using. Having to develop a whole separate site also meant a lot more expense for companies – they had to design 2 sites, not just one.
However, in 2013 a practice called “responsive web design” took off as the best way to create mobile sites. No longer did a separate Web site have to be created to account for smaller screens. Now one site can be developed and programmed to display in the best way possible on ANY size screen. The site rearranges and optimizes itself for the size of the screen used to view it, automagically!
In addition, many old Web sites were designed expecting all the visitors to the site to use a mouse. But we know now that many users will be using touch screens – which are far less precise. If a Web site isn’t design with the idea of touch screens in mind, it can be very frustrating to the visitor on a mobile device.
3) Design standards change over time.
You may not know it, but Web site design is a lot like the world of fashion: certain design practices become stale or outdated over time. Often times Web visitors absorb these design standards in an unconscious way. They may not be able to tell you WHY a particular Web site looks old, but they can tell you that it does. Think about some of the sites you’ve visited in the last month or so and you can probably get this idea. Your design adds to the impression potential customers, investors and employees form of your company. “Outdated” is probably not one of the words you’d like to have called to mind.
4) Redesigns often give a Web site a better position on Google.
When Google considers how to rank Web sites, it takes in account a variety of factors. One of those is how often the Web site is updated. That’s why many businesses will see a temporary boost in Google positioning after a site is redesigned. Note: keeping this position requires the company to continue to regularly update the site over time by adding new content.
5) The needs of the business change over time.
Even if your business Web site has not changed in the last few years, your business probably has. Perhaps you’ve added divisions or product lines. Perhaps you’ve removed them. You may have new staff or even departments to handle customer inquiries. You may have started using new technologies, like a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system (i.e., Salesforce). Your Web site may be able to align itself with your new business in ways you hadn’t previously considered.
For example, if you are using a CRM system, you may want to have inquiries from your Web site added directly to that system to be tracked. Or you may be making more use of social media and want to include links to those profiles or the most recent company tweets on your site. Considering these things can add a lot of value to your Web site.
The bottom line
With all these considerations in mind, if your Web site is more than three (3) years old, it is probably time to think about a redesign. Now is the time when many companies are creating budgets for next year so it’s a great time to thinking about including this type of project in 2015!
IF YOU’D LIKE AN EXPERT OPINION ON YOUR WEB SITE AND WHETHER THE TIME HAS COME FOR A WEB SITE REDESIGN, RFX TECHNOLOGIES WOULD LOVE TO HELP. CONTACT US TODAY FOR MORE INFORMATION!