How to tell it’s time for a new website
Published: September 2014
In today’s digital-dependent world, making sure your website works for you is important for your business. So to help you decide if the time is right to get a new website we’ve put together some handy tips to watch out for.
1. Your website isn’t responsive
If you’re not sure what ‘responsive’ means, then your website probably isn’t! A responsive website is one which will adapt to the device on which it is being displayed. In short, it means your website will look great on mobile devices and tablets as well as on desktops. That may not sound too important,but when you think that 60% of all traffic on the web comes from mobiles, you’ll realise how important it is that users can view your website easily across multiple devices.
Here at Urban River we build all our new websites responsively at no extra cost. See more details on responsive web design.
2. You can’t remember the last time you updated content on your website
Forgetting to update your websites content, or putting it off, can be a very bad habit to get into. Search engines, like Google, will give more priority to your site for having up-to-date content. So if you don’t update your content regularly, there is less chance your clients will find you when they search the web.
Having old content on your website will also portray a negative message to your potential clients, as they may think; If you don’t have time to update your own website, what level of service will they receive?
Urban River can help guide you though what you should be updating on your new website and making sure it’s quality content that your customers want to read.
3. Your clients aren’t getting in touch through your website
If your not getting any e-mail from your clients via your website then it’s a sure fire sign that something is wrong. This could be down to a bad user experience, outdated content putting potential clients off or new clients don’t know about you as your not appearing high enough in search engine results.
At Urban River we take the time to ensure your new website provides a great user experience and all of our new websites have built-in Search Engine Optimisation tools (SEO) to help you get to the top of Google. See more details on SEO.
4. Loading pages…takes ages!
There’s nothing more annoying for a site visitor than waiting for a website to load. You’re more likely to engage with your client through a website which loads quickly and making sure your website is responsive and sitting on a reliable web server will fix this problem. Also, Google does not like a slow-loading website.
Our hosting packages here at Urban River use the UK’s fastest and one of the most reliable companies.
5. Old technology…old website
If your website is utilising old technologies (like Flash, for example), you’re restricting the number of people who can actually view the content on your website. For example, Flash is not mobile friendly (in fact, it doesn’t work on any device created by Apple!) and won’t give you any benefit from an SEO point of view. Utilising new technologies will not only help you avoid any pitfalls and prevent you being left behind by your competitors but also give you an advantage in areas such as SEO and page load times.
Urban River are always looking to use the latest technologies available when building new website solutions for our clients.
6. You can’t find yourself on Google
Being found on Google is crucial for any business, so if you can’t find yourself on the top few pages then potential customers will struggle to find you too (research shows that 97% of users do not look past the first page of Google). Fixing some of the issues we have discussed above can help your listing with Google but it’s only the tip of the iceberg.
Here at Urban River we can help you come up with a SEO plan which will increase your listing position in Google and ultimately increase traffic to your site. See more details on SEO.
If you think your website matches some or all of the criteria above, then get in touch to see what we can do for you.
Urban River have created easily managed websites for a wide range of clients. See some examples of our work here. We also provide brand identities and design for print.
