How to know when it’s time to redesign your company website
As a digital agency, we at burningred have witnessed many companies who have fallen into the trap of neglecting their website.
Blogs abandoned, staff photos with Covid masks, non-mobile friendly designs, designs that belong in a museum and slow loaders are among many of the primary culprits. These last few years have been difficult for many businesses (to say the least!) and more often than not their primary marketing tool has become the abandoned fax machine at the back of the stationery cupboard - which worked great 10 years ago, and cost a lot of money to buy, but times have moved on and something gathering that much dust must go!
We know it can be difficult to know how or when to make the move, especially within an existing site and company structure where there are multiple stakeholders. However, an outdated website can harm your brand's image, user experience, your search engine rankings and more importantly, your enquiries or sales.
Let’s look at the tell-tale signs and what you can do about them… spoiler alert, not all of them actually need a website redesign!
A snapshot from our 2012 website design - ten years ago!
Outdated visual design
One of the first things that jumps out with websites that are past their sell-by-date is an outdated visual design. When the on-screen visual representation of your company falls short, it can create possible confusion for potential clients and cause them to question your authenticity - which ultimately, for b2b businesses can affect that all important ‘call to action’.
Without risk of saying ‘let’s jump on the latest design trend’ - you need to consider what is happening in your industry online so you can plan any changes that will maximise your potential return and how you will compete alongside your competitors.
Poor user experience
Alongside visual design, poor user experience is another big ‘turn off’ for potential digital suitors. In simple terms, this is when users can’t navigate or find particular content easily which can in turn lead to frustration and early exits.
One of the things that we have found time and time again, is that companies have built their websites around their own needs and terminology - and not thinking in the mind of their potential audience - we’re talking: use of internal lingo, outdated navigation titles, confusing page content, hidden pages requiring multiple clicks. Short term quick wins can be achieved with some basic restructuring of content and naming hierarchy rather than a full-on rebuild.
Where has everyone gone? Low conversion rates
Low conversion rates are a potential sign that your website may need a redesign. If enquiries have dried up and your traffic has unexpectedly taken a dive - it is certainly worth investigating a redesign option. Older websites aren’t built for the speed required by Google for good rankings in search and as we preach to clients, user experience isn’t a one-off job - but something that needs to be continually tweaked and fine tuned during the lifecycle of a website.
A website redesign where you focus on user journeys and what the customer actually wants can help improve the overall performance of your website and help increase conversion rates. It is worth noting that by looking at your analytics more thoroughly, you may find that some ‘rogue’ links or blog posts might have been skewing your traffic data all along.
But remember, lower traffic doesn’t necessarily mean less conversions
In recent years we reduced our traffic by 10% by removing rogue data from our website statistic and archiving some older (and dare I say, more viral blog posts) which were in all honesty, not aligned with our current goals - and coupled this with an SEO, website and content tweaks - we increased conversions by 294% in one month!
We do love a vintage style, but watch out when your company image has shifted. We’ve noticed that since 2022, companies have lost the ties and suits in their staff photos, in some instances…
That doesn't look or sound like you… watch out for outdated content!
Outdated photos and written content are one of the biggest tell-tale signs that your website is inactive. Fashions and styles change, and it is important to update your website so that it accurately reflects your company image. If your website is littered with out-of-date stock photography - this is another that sends words of warnings to visitors. It is also important to ensure that your written content is clear and up to date, communicating your services accurately and efficiently.
Sloooooow loading
Slow loading speed is a newer, and potentially serious issue that can negatively impact the user experience and search engine rankings. Page speed seriously affects user retention on your website, and a slow-loading website can severely impact your search engine results.
A website redesign focussed on speed can dramatically help improve the loading speed of your website and increase its overall search engine performance.
Some regular culprits that we constantly see are:
plugin-ageddon (too many plugins overloading your site speed - less definitely is more)
too many elements on the page
third party integrations (they have hidden digital ‘weight’ to them)
heavy and poorly managed javascript and code
non-web optimised imagery
incorrectly setup server environments (where your website lives)
Again, these can be remedied with quicker, one-off technical fixes, but if these are rearing their head alongside poor user experience and outdated design - then this is the perfect time for a redesign and build as the cost/benefit of doing so will be at its highest return.
Poor back-end experience for admin, editors and content makers
This is quite an important point for business websites that are regularly updated by members of your team or company. If using the administration section of your website is taking way too long, or is far too complicated for simple updates (like blogs, case studies) or isn’t providing the flexibility you need for adding a mix of media (photo, video, gifs, audio etc) then this is a real contender for some redevelopment. The web has come on a lot in the last four years, and especially in the way that WordPress websites have been and are being built now. Not only will this speed up productivity and output, but it will make your content and web team so much happier!
Not displaying well on mobiles
How many times have you landed on a poorly mobile-optimised website, and you find yourself zooming in, scrolling around squinting to see what is going on - well, this is the problem we’re talking about here. If your website doesn't work well on devices and phones, you could be missing out on important leads and enquiries. Also known as responsive web design, it doesn’t mean that it will work just on your mobile or desktop, but everything in-between including tablets and TV browsers.
If your brand has had a brand update, you need to make sure your company website matches your new look.
Company branding out of date
Had a recent company rebrand and not updated your website? Tsk tsk - this is another sign that you are in need of a redesign. Sometimes, it might be possible to do a quick refresh of the existing site with your new logo, colours, text - but if your website is more than a few years old or feeling dated, then again, this is time to consider the big R. After all, it is your number one sales tool - working tirelessly 365 days a year, 7 days a week.
Security & hosting issues
Security and hosting issues are also a significant concern for any website owner. If your website has not been secured digitally, you could be at risk from cross-site scripting or hacks. A website redesign can help ensure that your website is secure and protected from any potential threats. Hosting and maintenance also plays a large part with page speed - if your speed is underperforming, a move of server could help remedy part of the problem.
Poor search engine rankings & results
If your website is not ranking well or at all, there may well be technical website build issues and content considerations at play that need to be improved. Wordpress sites built pre-Gutenberg with page-builders may well be experiencing a dip in search placement - and this could very well be down to how the site was built and the pagebuilder adding all the digital weight to the system. It wasn’t wrong, it was right for then, but now, there are much better ways of doing things.
Content or poorly optimised content might also be stalling your ability to rank which would require more page by page approach rather than a complete re-build.
But its important to remember that ranking in search engines for newer (and all) websites requires a bit of strategy - and quality, relevant and unique content will always help your chances of being found!
We help companies modernise and speed up their WordPress and Umbraco websites so they’re lightning fast.
Trust your gut!
Finally, a gut feeling that your website no longer represents your company is a sign that it may be time for a redesign. This could be from the CEO, the marketing team or the sales people dealing with clients day-to-day.
As your company evolves and expands, it’s important to make sure that your website accurately reflects these changes. A website redesign can help guarantee that your website represents your company, its values and most importantly its products and services.
The wolf on the hill is not as hungry as the wolf climbing the hill.
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Photo: Gage Skidmore
Final thoughts
If you’re resting on your digital laurels, hoping that your rapidly ageing website is ‘good enough’, let us spoil the ending for you - it isn’t! If you’re not chasing change and fighting to attain more customers or clients, your competitors certainly will be.
The past couple of years have seen the web’s most accelerated transformation to date; what we can do with websites now would be unprecedented looking just 3-5 years back into the past.
So, if you're asking yourself "how do I know when it's time for a new company website?" then you probably already need one.
It can be a murky and somewhat off-putting proposition to be leading on such a project and there are many ways to re-skin this digital cat, not all of them requiring as drastic measures as a complete redesign and build. But when you start to stack up your current web issues, there comes a tipping point at which it makes more commercial sense to invest in your digital image than try to plug the holes in something that is already out of date.
