5 Signs Your Business Needs a New Website in 2021

Aug 19, 2021

A new website is a lot like a new car: some people love the thrill of switching to a sleek new model, while others prefer to keep what they have until the wheels fall off.

But while your car is for driving you to work, your website is for driving potential leads to your business. If your website is not providing them what they want in the ways and timeframe they expect, many will quickly look elsewhere without a second thought. Even worse, Google and other search engines know this, and will often penalize obsolete websites in their search rankings.

On average, it is recommended that a website be refreshed, updated, or rebuilt every 2-3 years. The approach you should take, as well as your timeframe, will largely depend on how your website currently stands. (And our Web Design experts are more than happy to consult with you about this in a no-nonsense, down-to-earth way.)

But you don’t always need us to tell you when it’s time for a change. Here are some clear signs that you may need a new website.

Refresh Restart Renew Vision Concept

1. Your Website Looks or Runs Terrible on Mobile

This one is huge.

Most web users now come from people using phones, tablets, and other mobile devices. If your website is not built to be adaptive and responsive to smaller screens, it will take a big bite out of your potential business.

Google’s Page Experience Update, slated to be fully active by the end of August 2021, places more emphasis on mobile performance than ever before, and that emphasis is only expected to increase over time. Do not get caught out.

2. Your Load Times Are Slow

You can get the direct data from various load time website tools if you want, but you can sense it yourself when trying to load your pages as well.

If it’s taking more than a few seconds for your pages to load, that might as well be an eternity to many website visitors. Most will move elsewhere within that time frame.

Google considers fast loading speeds a high priority in search ranking factors. If your site is loading slowly, it may be possible that some changes to layout and images may significantly help. Other times, however, an update to the backend is necessary.

We recommend using a third party tool – GT Metrix – to gauge the overall performance of your site’s load time.

3. Your Bounce Rate is High

“Bounce rate,” which can be found through Google Analytics, is the percentage of visitors to your website who arrive at a page for a short time and then leave. They take no action on the page, such as filling out a form or clicking to a new page on your website, and Google notices.

Although a few pages (like “thank you” pages after someone fills out a form) are expected to have high bounce rates, consistently seeing them elsewhere can be a red flag that visitors are not finding what they’re looking for or not receiving it quickly/easily enough (see the section on Load Times above).

Seeing bounce rates higher than 70% across your website is a sign that something needs to change.

bounce rate from website traffic and analytics data

4. Your Website Looks Outdated and/or No Longer Represents Your Brand

In the online world, looks do matter – both to how people interpret the usefulness of your website and whether they even recognize your website as associated with you.

If your website looks like it came out of 2010, many visitors are going to expect the information on it to be of the same quality, even if it’s brand new.

Additionally, the branding your website displays is also key to how your visitors associate your information and calls to action with you. If your website is not up to date with your current brand, visitors may end up confused as to who you are, or again assume that your website’s content is outdated.

5. Conversions Are Down

Have you seen your emails, form completions, and calls dwindle over time? An outdated website might be to blame. 

Even if your website is receiving a lot of traffic, poor responsiveness, confusing navigation, or a simple lack of conversion opportunities can be denying you of more leads. A new or updated website can empower your online presence and drive more visitors into becoming customers.

And if you don’t know how well your website is converting visitors into leads, that’s a whole problem in itself! We can help you with that.

Get In with the New

If you feel it may be time for a new website, then you’re probably right. 

But the direction you take that new website is important. You want to make sure it covers the bases both for what potential customers are expecting and how Google sees your strength in search rankings. You want a new website that provides the most you can get out of it now, keeping your Internet marketing presence strong over the next several years to come.

The experts at Marketing 2nGage can help you achieve that goal. We can analyze the shortcomings of your current website, learn more about how you wish to interact with potential customers, and make sound recommendations for a newer and better online home.

Ready to get started? Schedule a consultation with our experts by filling out our online contact form. We look forward to talking with you!