4 reasons you need to fix your website now.
Have you just received a brand spanking new, full to brim budget for your marketing or digital activities? Are you thinking about the best way to get the most from your available funds? Here are 4 occasions when developing a new website should be your top priority. Do any of them ring true for you?
- Your website hasn’t changed much in the last couple of years
So much time and effort goes into the design and development of a new website, yet so many businesses think once it has gone live, the project is over. A stagnant website is one of the biggest mistakes that a company can make. Rather than making minor iterative changes to consistently improve performance, a site often becomes so dated that a complete overhaul is required and thus another massive website project needs to be undertaken.
Whether your online presence is the lifeblood of your business or a shop window for your services, your brand and reputation will be impacted by how you represent yourself online. Your customers expectations are constantly evolving, their exposure to your competitors and other online experiences mean they will expect more from you. Creating a positive and relevant digital experience for your users will determine whether they convert into a customer or not.
- You didn’t consult users when originally creating your site
Understanding your users wants, needs, goals and frustrations is the key to designing an effective and positive experience for users. If you create a good user experience, visitors will return and convert more often.Failure to research your users means that you are designing an experience based on assumptions and best guesses, which is why so many sites don’t reach their full potential.
If you did consult your users when originally creating your site, do those insight still apply? Have your users moved on and have their expectations changed based on interactions with other websites and online experiences? If you don’t evolve with your users’ needs, your competitors will!
- Your site is not responsive
According to ComScore, the number of global mobile users now outweighs the number of desktop users1. People love their smart phones, checking them first thing in the morning and last thing at night. Some even experience separation anxiety if they forget to pick up their mobile before leaving home. UK mobile users spend an average 66 hours per month browsing the Internet on their phone.
With more that 50% of mobile searches coming from mobile devices, according to Google, you cannot afford to ignore responsive design.
And it isn’t just users that are demanding a good user experience, Google is actively penalising those who don’t offer a mobile responsive website. So if you have a site that is still not responsive, you need to address this immediately as it will affect your search engine optimisation and traffic levels.
- Your site is not converting
Whether your goals is to achieve more leads, sales or increase user engagement, your website has a role to play in your overall marketing strategy. If you are not getting the levels of conversions you need, there is a solution.
Undertaking a Discovery phase as a first step. Through stakeholder research and user research, you can lift the lid on the key issues concerning your website. By identifying and matching the goals of your business and your users, you can scope your website requirements to ensure you are creating an exceptional user experience that will drive conversions.
Investing in User experience research and design techniques such as the development of User Personas and understanding user goals, tasks and scenarios will all be invaluable in ensuring positive online customer journeys that result in increased conversions.
In summary
If you recognise one or more of these scenarios and need to fix your website immediately, consider your next digital project as a step change in how you approach your online marketing. Use insight and best practice to shape an ever-evolving, user centric digital strategy and drive engagement and conversions.