Imagine that you're looking to buy a new house. Your realtor calls and tells you that she found the perfect one. But when you show up to tour it, you notice that the roof is missing shingles, there are cracks in the foundation, it smells bad inside, and some of the lights don't work. These are instant red flags and you leave without putting an offer in. While the signs might not be the same, your website can also put off red flags that will instantly make your audience hit that back button.
Red Flags of an Unhealthy Website
- Stagnant Blog: In theory, a blog is the perfect addition to your company's website. It helps establish your brand as a subject matter expert, boosts your reputation, and is great for SEO and raising your organic search results. Writing your first couple of blogs is exciting but then you get to your tenth blog and it's a bit harder, and now instead of posting twice a month you're posting once a month and eventually the blog falls to the wayside and you stop posting altogether. Not only will you lose many of the benefits that come with a blog by not posting, but your website visitors will know that the information they're getting isn't up to date.
- Broken Links and Pages: Not only is this frustrating for a potential customer to experience but having broken links or multiple 404 error messages on your website sends the exact opposite of the message you want to. A customer clicks on a link because they want to learn more. If they run into a dead end, they're going to assume that you don't offer that particular service or item anymore and they'll leave to find it with a competitor.
- Not Optimized for Mobile: Google processes over 3.5 billion searches per day and 63% of this search traffic originates from mobile devices. Having a responsive design allows the web page to adjust certain elements based on the screen width of the user's device. It can also change the layout your navigation to make it easier to use along with changing fonts and background elements. You could have just gone through a massive design update, but if somebody finds your website and it's not mobile friendly, you're only providing them with a bad user experience.
- Outdated Design: We've said it before and we're going to say it again. You have about 50 milliseconds to make a great impression on your website visitors. If they come to your site and it's cluttered, has confusing navigation, unreadable text, or harsh colors, are you providing them with an impression that will make them want to stay?
- Slow Load Speed: What's worse than having an outdated design? A website that won't even load. According to a 2018 study by Google, 53% of mobile users will leave a site that takes longer than three seconds to load. These three seconds can be the difference between having a new client or missing out on a sale.
It's easy to fall into the mindset that once you have your website up and running, your work is done. But unfortunately, that's no longer true. You should be updating your website content monthly, if not weekly, for SEO purposes, as well as giving your website a redesign every 2-3 years in order to stay modern and relevant. With your busy schedule, we understand that this is difficult to do, which is why the team at Informatics is comprised of talented content creators, accomplished web developers, and brilliant website designers. We can take your old and outdated website and breathe life into it again, making it the perfect representation of your brand. Contact us today to get started.
