If you run a company, it’s critical to keep your website up to date since this is one of the most effective ways for you to provide fresh material, design, and structure to potential leads and customers. We’ll go through several factors to help you decide whether or not your website is keeping up with the times. Is there something interesting on your homepage? Is it possible for visitors to become interested in learning more about your business from the first time they see it?
The first impression your company makes on potential clients and consumers is frequently made on the website’s home page. If it’s uninteresting, forgettable, or unoriginal, your business may soon be seen in the same light. On the other hand, if your site is too bright, cluttered, or crowded with information and pictures, you will most certainly confuse the viewer and cause them to leave. You want your website to help you grow your brand and personality, by acting as a dynamic extension of your business. It is a 24/7 employee that is constantly working to share important information about your company’s products and services with potential consumers. The Stanford Persuasive Technology Lab conducted an experiment to see whether website trustworthiness is determined on a case-by-case basis. The majority of respondents, 46.1 percent, said that a website’s design is the most important element in determining a website’s credibility. There are several factors to consider to ensure that your site gets the attention of visitors in a good way and captures their interest.
Your home page should:
- Make it a point to showcase your logo prominently.
- Make your brand’s colour palette a part of the design.
- Demonstrate your firm’s core business (products or services provided)
- Display clear navigation that links to other pages of your site
- Contain contact Info
- Contain quality images that represent your brand and what you do
- Have social media links (if relevant)
Does your website work well on mobile devices?
The importance of being mobile-friendly cannot be overstated, especially given that almost EVERYONE has a smartphone or tablet nowadays. Take out your phone right now and look up your website if you’re part of the majority.Is it mobile-friendly? Is there enough space on the screen for your visitors to read comfortably? These days, responsive website design is a must. Not only will bad mobile design have a negative impact on user experience, but Google’s use of mobile-friendliness as a significant ranking criterion has made this even more important. If your website isn’t up to date, you’re lagging behind.
Are any of your links or buttons broken/outdated?
When was the last time you went over your website, clicking on and checking out all of the links? Broken links can happen for a variety of reasons. However, to visitors, they may give a negative first impression. It will reduce the quality and reputation of your site, which will harm how others see it. Also, make sure that system pages like your 404 page include relevant and functioning links to assist people in regaining access to where they belong and avoiding additional aggravation.
Are you still using Flash?
It’s time to update your website if it was created with Flash or any other components and contains Flash in any way. Although many mobile devices support Flash, it isn’t compatible with many of them. nIt uses a lot of device resources and drains the batteries of those that do work. In 2016, Google Chrome stopped supporting Flash altogether, instead of pushing for and using HTML5. If you’re utilising Flash on your site, it’s time to consider either redesigning it or removing any components that rely on this technology.
Do you have good quality content?
A company’s website needs to be filled with high-quality relevant material. Information should never become outdated. Check for spelling and grammatical mistakes throughout your website. If the information on your site wasn’t created by a professional content writer, you might want to have it redone. It’s important for your business’ reputation and trustworthiness to have good content on its website. Blogging, white paper production, eBooks, landing pages, and newsletters are some of the best ways to provide high-quality information to your website.
Is your site optimised for search engines?
Without a plan and objective in place, producing outstanding material will not be enough to set you apart from the competition and convert prospects into paying customers. To get visitors to your site in the first place, you’ll need SEO tactics as well as keyword optimisation. What good is all of that excellent information if no one sees it? A website must have a decent mix of valuable content as well as strategically incorporated keywords to be optimised for search engines. If you force terms into your text where they don’t belong, the writing will appear forced and strange. Not only that, but if you use strong keywords in your content, Google may penalise it. The key to pulling in the kind of traffic you want is to utilise strong keywords, search engine methods, and original material. What will keep people coming back for more is engaging, helpful, and well-written content.
Is your website easy to navigate?
Is the list of food items on your website easy to make out? Throughout the whole site, should your navigation bar appear consistent? You don’t want visitors to get “lost” on your site. Make sure that if you have various pages or levels on your site, each one is simple to access and move between. Within the navigation bar, each category should be well defined and distinct from the others. Be sure that each category accurately describes the page it is linking to, and that each link is clickable, taking visitors to the appropriate site. This may seem obvious, but there are many websites out there with broken or out-of-date links that can make a company appear unprofessional and inattentive.
Is your imagery original? Does it support your brand and your message?
According to Thermopylae, images enhance learning by up to 400 percent and a visual can be processed 60,000 times faster than text. This just goes to show you how essential visuals are in conveying information effectively. Make sure your website includes appealing or well-photographed pictures and graphics that promote your brand. You could need a professional graphic design company if you’re using stock photos and photographs on your site. If you want to use stock images or photos on your website, make sure they’re distinct enough. You don’t want to have a similar image on your website as hundreds of other businesses. Also, double-check that your photos aren’t “cheesy,” outdated, or unappealing in order to avoid any issues. On the other hand, make sure you’re using high-quality professional photography if you’re doing it yourself. Do not use images simply for the sake of filling space. Every picture included on your website should have a purpose and should help the visitor better comprehend your message. They should not be used to distract or perplex people.
Is it well designed?
The answer to this question can pretty much sum up everything we have covered in this post. If your website has not been redesigned or at least updated in the last few years, it’s most likely time to consider giving it a look over. You want your website to remain current and relevant in today’s society. It must change in order for it to survive. It’s doubtful that your company has remained static over time. You can offer potential clients a solid incentive to visit your business by developing new deals, offering current information, and displaying elegant designs.
