Why Your Website Needs a Redesign
An in-depth look at the factors damaging your digital reputation and the top 5 reasons why your website isn’t working for you.
First off, if you’re considering whether or not you need to revamp your website, odds are you already know the answer — YES, your website needs help. The digital world is changing rapidly and people are always going to judge your business by its appearance (if your business was a book, your website would be the cover). Also, if you haven’t updated your site lately, search engines are penalizing your website for a number of reasons (we’ll get into that more shortly).
But first, let’s talk about why your website is so important.
Your website is a crucial tool for your business.
Here are a few reminders:
Your website gives your business credibility and legitimacy.
Because if you don’t exist online, people instantly question why — with wide eyes and a cringy *yikes*.Your website is a place to showcase your brand.
Who you are, what you do, why you do it, and what sets you apart from the rest.Your website gives your business exposure and increases leads (lead generation).
If they can’t find you, they’ll find someone else — whose website is likely far better than yours.A well-built website adds efficiency and automation to your business.
Show people the information they are looking for. Help them book in or learn more. They don’t want to call or email you for answers.Your website can provide detailed analytics that are useful when running ad campaigns or search engine optimization marketing (SEO marketing).
Whether or not you run ads now, it’s never too early to start gathering data!
But, if your website isn’t performing well, is out of date, or looks terrible, none of these points matter. In fact, your website can work against you and damage your business’s reputation.
Ask yourself these questions:
Are you embarrassed or hesitant to direct clients/customers to your website?
Is it outdated, off-brand, inaccurate, or looks like crap?Is your website built with mobile-first design?
AKA, does it format for phones and tablets?Does your site provide a positive and memorable user experience (UX)?
Is your website converting visitors to loyal clients or customers?Is your website ranking high on Google?
Are you showing up for those relative search terms?Can you easily update or manage the content on your site?
Without hiring a professional ($$$)?
Let’s dive deeper into each of these…
5 Reasons Your Website Isn’t Working for You
1. You’re embarrassed to share your website URL address.
There may be a few reasons you’d avoid sending clients or customers to your website. Maybe it looks outdated, cheap, or neglected, in which case people may wonder if the same can be said about your business.
Often as a business grows the website gets left behind. If the website has been neglected to the point that the content has become inaccurate or irrelevant, people visiting your website may be confused or misled. Or, perhaps your business brand evolved, but you never got around to updating the website, so now it no longer reflects the brand. This is why being able to easily edit and manage your website is so damn important!
And lastly, if the website takes ages to load you should probably be embarrassed to send people there. Page load speed is important to monitor and optimize for SEO purposes, but more importantly — people just don’t have the time or patience to wait around. So, if it’s not loading they will leave and look elsewhere. A study from Google shows that about 53% of web users leave pages that take more than 3 seconds to load.
2. Your website isn’t mobile-first / mobile-friendly.
Listen to me carefully:
If it doesn’t look good on a phone - you need a new website.
If it doesn’t function properly on a phone - you need a new website.
If it won’t load efficiently on a phone - you need a new website.
There isn’t much else to say.
Except this — Google’s algorithm penalizes your website ranking if it isn’t accessible on mobile devices. Google expects mobile visitors to be the primary target of your website. Meaning, every aspect of your website should be formatted to be user-friendly for all mobile devices. And, the desktop version of your site should mirror the mobile version - with automatic reformatting to suit larger screens.
Consider these stats:
At the end of 2021, mobile devices generated 54.4% of global website traffic.
Statista, 2022
53.8% of web designers cite “not being responsive on all devices” as a top reason for a website to be redesigned.
GoodFirms, 2021
55.4% of internet users use mobile phones to buy online.
DataReportal, 2021
73.1% of web designers think that non-responsive design is a top reason why visitors leave a website.
GoodFirms, 2021
It is expected that By 2025 72.5% of people will access the internet from their smartphone only.
World Advertising Research Center
3. Your website doesn’t provide a positive user experience.
User Experience (UX) is often underrated in website design. This is especially true for those DIY websites.
A lot can be said about UX. But in a nutshell, UX is made up of three main components — look, feel, and usability. The look includes the overall aesthetic, which influences whether the design conveys credibility and trust, is pleasing to look at, and aligns with all aspects of the brand. The feel is about the joy of use and the emotions prompted by the website experience. A thoughtfully designed website should invoke the exact emotions that encourage the visitor to do one or more of the following things: enjoy themselves and have a memorable experience while browsing, become a loyal client or customer, or at least stick around to learn more. The usability is about functionality, individuality, and predictability. Meaning, it needs to be efficient to navigate and enjoyable to use. It can still be fun and original, but without anything that might confuse people and steer them away.
If this all sounds like your website, fantastic! If you’re thinking, ‘that’s a lot to pack into the design of a website', think again! It’s what we as professional web designers do. Every website project starts with in-depth research and strategy to consciously consider the user experience throughout every facet of the site.
The most common UX pitfalls we see in websites are:
Poor navigation design. This is so basic and of the utmost importance. If people can’t easily navigate your website, they are going to get annoyed very quickly. Annoyed people leave and don’t come back.
Dead pages, broken links, or outdated content. If people click a link on a website, they expect to find what they’re promised. When they don’t find it, they are gone. When people visit a website, they expect the information to be current — not 5 years old and no longer relevant. The solution is easy; visit your website regularly, test all pages and links, review all content, and keep things functional and current!
Not balancing aesthetic with functionality. A website like no other is intriguing and exciting, but if it lacks basic functionality it’s going to frustrate people. On the other hand, a website that purely prioritizes functionality will be boring and easily forgettable. The goal is to stand out, captivate, intrigue, and be memorable — but also user-friendly.
Excessive pop-ups or ads. Have you ever tried to read an article or recipe and kept having to remove pop-ups and get past ads? Not all pop-ups are bad, but they must be used with care. Design them well and include them strategically. Some sites depend on revenue from ads. This can be done tastefully and effectively. More often than not the ads are excessive and obnoxious — especially on mobile devices.
Too much copy delivered all at once. Written content is important, but don’t overwhelm people with words. Attention spans are at an all-time low and when people land on a web page packed with words from edge to edge, they might read the heading. Copy needs to be broken up and delivered in bite-size pieces, with strategic structure and font use.
Ignoring responsive design. We’ve already covered this. But, I’ll say it again — make your website responsive for smartphones!
Not designing for the end goal. First off, do you know the end goal for your website visitors? It could be as simple as booking a service, filling out a form, or making a purchase. Whatever it is, the UX should be entirely built around guiding people to that final step of the goal. Too often this becomes an afterthought to a website’s design.
4. Your website doesn’t rank on Google.
If you go to Google and use search terms related to your business, does your business show up?
EXAMPLE: If you are a landscaping business in Kelowna, related search terms may be "Landscaping Kelowna", "Lawn mowing Kelowna", "Snow removal Kelowna", "Arborist near me", etc.
It takes a lot of work to be in the top results in Google (depending on the competition, of course). If you're not on the first page you pretty much don't exist. There are a lot of possible reasons for Google giving your website a low rank, but those reasons can be sorted into two categories — either the competition is steep and your website can’t contend, or Google’s algorithm just really doesn’t like your website.
First Page Sage, the largest SEO firm in the US, recently released a breakdown of the factors that comprise Google's algorithm (2023). Here are the results:
Consistent Publication of High-Quality Content (24%)
Keywords in Meta Title Tags (15%)
Backlinks (15%)
Niche Expertise (14%)
User Engagement (12%)
Trustworthiness (5%)
Mobile-Friendly / Mobile-First Website (4%)
Internal Links (3%)
Page Speed (3%)
Site Security / SSL Certificate (2%)
Schema Markup / Structured Data (1%)
Keywords in URL (1%)
Other Factors (1%)
A lot can be said about these results. For more information about this study and how to understand each of these categories, check out this article from First Page Sage.
The key takeaways are:
Google takes into account a lot of different factors when ranking your website.
The number one factor, Consistent Publication of High-Quality Content (24%), means you need to be sure all content on your site is quality, useful, engaging, and relevant to your niche and brand. Plus, you need to regularly add new content. So, if you haven't added content to your site in years, you have some catching up to do.
If your site still isn't using SEO best practices, isn't mobile-friendly, isn't loading efficiently, or isn't secure (does it have that little lock symbol to the left of the address bar?)… you definitely need a new website.
As for the other factors, like Keywords in Meta Title Tags (15%), check out our blog article 5 Places You Need to Be Using Keywords — and How To Research Them to learn more about optimizing your website SEO.
5. You cannot easily update or manage your website.
We’ve already covered the damage that can be caused by having out-of-date and irrelevant information on your site (UX and SEO), it’s understood that a website that looks old and neglected is going to reflect badly on your business, and we now know the importance of regularly adding new content to your website (Google’s algorithm). So, the next question is why has it been years since you last updated your website?
More often than not your website is either a low priority (but now we know it should be a high priority, right?), or it’s too complicated or expensive to make changes to.
In this day and age, there is no reason you should have a website that requires a developer to make edits. Website builder platforms like Squarespace have a user-friendly editor interface that makes managing your site simple and efficient*. No more monthly contract fees or big bills every time you need to make a change. Having a Squarespace website means you can confidently edit and manage your website all on your own.
*As with any software, there is a bit of a learning curve. But, with every Squarespace website project from Badlands Design Co., you get personalized training with step-by-step instructions and video tutorials you keep for life. Plus, you receive a 30-day post-launch support window for any assistance you may need as you learn to use your website. You’ll be 100% set up for success.
To learn more about why Squarespace is so great, check out our blog article, Why We Design Websites With Squarespace.
You Need a Website Redesign, What Now?
So, now that you know why your website needs a redesign, where do you go from here? We recommend planning your redesign thoroughly. This will ensure you won’t be looking for yet another redesign in a year or two.
Our 7-Step Process for Your Website Redesign:
Hire. It’s best to use a professional website designer — it will save you time and money in the long run.
Analyze & Audit. Check out your website analytics to determine the biggest areas of concern. Audit your website to find all areas needing change. Decide what will stay and what will go.
Set Goals for the new website. Make the objectives achievable and measurable.
Rework the Content. Start gathering all the content for the new site. You’ll need to edit the copy, get new images, and create fresh content that represents who your business and clientele are today (and tomorrow).
Follow Your Brand Guidelines. As with anything in your business, be sure your new website is on-brand and familiar to your loyal clients or customers.
Use Best Practices for SEO and UX. Be sure the final product is going to please visitors and rank on Google!
Test and Monitor. Test all pages and links of your website on desktop, tablet, and multiple types of smartphones. Test it on different types of browsers. Don’t forget to regularly monitor the analytics to be sure the site is performing optimally.
