Here are some reasons to consider upgrading your site:
BRANDING AND DESIGN
If your business has rebranded, then this is the time to look at updating your website, as it won’t now represent that new logo and brand colours etc. On the other hand, your design might not have changed but it could feel that your current website no longer represents your brand and looks dated.
USER EXPERIENCE
It could be that your website still feels current but the way visitors engage with it feels clunky and they aren’t having a good user experience (or UX). Visitors will soon click away if pages take a long time to load, or the navigation isn’t as intuitive or smooth as it should be or there are technical issues.
It could be that it’s hard for people to find what they are looking for and a new website will give you the opportunity to streamline your process flow, improve engagement and gain more cross-selling or up-selling opportunities. With these in place, you should more effectively convert visitors into customers or leads.
BUSINESS GOALS AND DIRECTION
As your company grows and evolves, then what you need your website to do for your business is likely to change as well. This could be due to strategic decisions you make or perhaps be due to external factors.
The pandemic altered the way many businesses operated. You might be a restaurant which quickly evolved to offer takeaways and now you’re finding your business on one of the online takeaway providers. Your business may simply be doing more online sales and needs a new e-commerce function added or perhaps additional online support services. Both of which mean it could be time for a new website.
It might be a case that you need an updated website to keep up with your competitors – as they might be able to offer something you can’t on your current site. To stay competitive in your industry, it's essential to have a website that stands out and offers unique features or content that differentiate you from competitors.
It might be that your business has merged or you’ve acquired another company. In which case, you might want a new website to reflect this expansion of your business or change of direction etc.
NEW TECHNOLOGY AND TECHNOLOGICAL NEED
You could find your current website just doesn’t offer the technology your business needs – such as the opportunity to increasingly personalise content for your visitors.
From a technological perspective, it could be that the platform your website is on simply isn’t supported any longer and there’s a need to upgrade to make sure your site continues to receive support. Your current website might also fall down when it comes to issues of security and data protection.
In addition, if you move your business onto a new CRM system, you’ll want your website to communicate with it.
COST AND RESOURCES
With costs mounting across the board nowadays, you will no doubt be keeping an increased eye on your marketing budget. Perhaps the cost of the platform you’re on simply isn’t sustainable anymore? The price of licensing, hosting and support can vary greatly and yearly subscriptions can be huge. In which case, after shopping around, you might wish to change platforms and, at the same time, update your website.
While you might be happy with your current website, is it on a technology which few people in your business have the knowledge to work on? What happens if the person with that knowledge leaves? Consider the resources within your company.
REGULATORY AND COMMERCIAL REQUIREMENTS
Staying compliant with the latest web standards and regulations, including GDPR is crucial, while your website accessibility is important too. It might be that you simply need to update your site to make sure that these requirements are included. Within your own industry, there might be new regulation which comes along and you have to include that on your website.
SCALE
Would your current website be able to cope if business increased? It’s fairly easy to plan when growth is predictable but what would happen if you had a sudden influx of visitors to your website. Nowadays, this can happen overnight – particularly if a social media influencer promotes your brand. Also, while many businesses suffered during the pandemic, others witnessed rapid growth.
If your business is growing, your processes will increase too. You might initially have just one person in marketing dealing with content but this might grow. Can your current website cope with this surge in processes?
SEO AND ANALYTICS
Search engine optimisation (SEO) is vital for online visibility. A new website can be built with SEO best practices in mind, making it easier to rank higher in search engine results. A new website can integrate advanced analytics tools, providing valuable data and insights into user behaviour, helping you make informed decisions.
SECURITY
Today, security is paramount. Can your current website stand up to any hacking events, mal-ware attacks or similar? If you realise that it won’t, this is certainly the time to consider a new website.
CHANGING YOUR AGENCY
It might be that your decision to have a new website comes on the back of not being happy with your current agency. As we said in a previous blog, working with a web agency is like a relationship. Your agency might be growing and working with bigger clients, leaving you behind or unloved.
On the flip side, your business might be evolving and the agency you are working with can’t keep up with you, perhaps in terms of support or technology. The decision to have a new website could be a way of ‘escaping’.
If you want to know if your website needs changing or updating, do get in touch on tel: 020 3397 3222.