Sign Up for Our Newsletter
It’s the question on every internet-savvy business owner’s mind: how often should your website be updated? No, we’re not talking about simple changes, like adjustments to content or swapping out images (although those are included). We’re talking about a complete refresh or overhaul of your website! This includes formatting, content, UX design, custom features, and more. Website updates and redesigns are necessary for your business to stay up-to-date and ensure your web presence continues to be effective in your marketing efforts. In fact, most digital marketers across the web agree that a website should be redesigned every 2-3 years to stay relevant. But what exactly does a fresh website design do for your business’s web presence? Let 309 Marketing Group explain!
Although patience is a virtue, having near-instant access to information worldwide has spoiled us some. This is to say that online users don’t always have the time or patience to wait for a website to load. It might seem silly saying users aren’t willing to wait a few seconds, but there’s data to support this! A study by Portent, a national digital marketing agency, found that load times between 0-4 seconds were the most optimal for converting potential leads. Along these same lines, the study also found that a B2B site that loads in one second has a 3x higher conversion rate than a site that loads in five seconds. 309 Marketing Group has seen this phenomenon first-hand, having clients with older websites drop out of search engine results pages (SERPs) due to slow page speeds. In other words, if your website isn’t loading fast enough, you risk losing potential leads!
Various factors can impact webpage speed, including outdated code, unnecessary JavaScript, poorly optimized images, old UX design, etc. A website redesign addresses all of these issues in an effort to speed up your page speed. When your site can load in five seconds or less, web visitors will continue to engage and interact with your content.
User Experience (UX) design is an essential component of building a website. It refers to the process of creating a website that is easy to use, aesthetically pleasing, and optimized for user interaction. With the constant evolution of web technology and user behavior, regularly updating your website’s UX design is essential. This ensures that your site remains visually appealing and user-friendly.
By staying up-to-date on the latest trends in UX design, you ensure more potential customers and clients stay on your website longer. The longer a user is on your site, the more likely they will convert into a lead. By making your website easy to navigate, simple to understand, accessible to those with disabilities, and flush with engaging features and widgets, you will significantly increase your web presence’s reach.
Our smartphones have come a long way in a short time. Most anything can be accomplished using your phone, including a simple search for a nearby plumber or a product you might be interested in. Hence, when updating your website, ensuring it’s optimized for mobile is paramount. Because online users are increasingly engaging with web content using their phones, being able to access your website on a smaller screen quickly proves your business’s advantage.
If there wasn’t a clear sign the world is turning to mobile more than desktop, Google’s decision to emphasize mobile-first indexing says it all. This means that when Google ranks a site in its SERPs, it values how well it runs on mobile. In other words, if your website isn’t optimized for smartphones or tablets, it won’t appear at the top of Google’s search results! Needless to say, ensuring your website ranks highly in Google is crucial to your business’s success.
Although you should already be updating your website’s content regularly, a website redesign allows you to refresh content that may have gone by the wayside. Well-written and informative content can make or break a website. While it’s become increasingly true that “less is more,” your content must still be helpful to users, no matter its length. After all, content is the crux of your website’s Search Engine Optimization (SEO) worth.
Because users will continue to click back to the content they find helpful, search engines like Google will find those pages more authoritative. In turn, Google will begin recommending these “high-quality content” pages to more and more users looking for similar search results. Thankfully, quality content can be implemented in more than just a landing page. By leveraging optimized images, infographics, white papers, testimonials, videos and more, you can add to the layers of content, creating various ways for users to digest the information being presented.
What website are you more likely to trust: a site that loads slowly, is full of older references, has broken links, and is thin on content; or a website that’s quick, has a sleek design, and is loaded with useful info? The choice is obvious; you pick the second site! Now look at your own website and ask yourself: are you the first or the second example? If you’re the first, users are likely visiting your website and immediately clicking off, turned off by a lack of organization or professionalism.
By having your website professionally redesigned, giving it a more “professional look,” you establish better trust and credibility with your audience. Additionally, by designing a site to look unique and include a variety of functions and features, you set your business apart from its competitors. Or, at the very least, you place yourself on an even footing with your competition. Either way, presenting your business in the best possible light will improve your standing with new and existing clientele.
Everything mentioned thus far in this article emphasizes the ease and simplicity of your website. It must be accessible via mobile with fast load times, authoritative content, updated UX and UI design, and a professional look overall. All this works in tandem towards one major goal: seeing your website rank at the top of SERPs. If there’s one thing more critical for your business’s online presence, it’s your website’s search engine optimization (SEO).
When creating (or refreshing) a website, everything must be designed with the user in mind. Are webpages easy to navigate? Is valuable information readily available? Can users easily connect with your business via your website? Does your site’s design match the tone and branding of your business? These factors, and many more, influence how search engine companies like Google value your website. If Google thinks your website presents the best answers or solutions for its users, you will continually rank at the top of SERPs. And the only way to become number one is to have an up-to-date, fully optimized website.
As businesses grow their online brand, yours could fall behind thanks to an old, outdated website! Thankfully, the answer to your digital marketing woes is simple: it’s time for a website redesign. If your business’s website could use a bit of a refresh, count on the expert web designers at 309 Marketing to assist. With our sister company, WebDesign309, we’ve been in the business of producing fast, beautiful, highly-optimized sites for decades. Draw on years of digital marketing experience and present your business in the best possible light with website redesigns from 309 Marketing Group. To learn more about our website or digital marketing services, contact us at 309-213-9398 to request a consultation.