There are a lot of reasons that your company may need a new website. A poor website is an underperforming asset that may be hindering the success of your business goals. Perhaps the data, your customers – or your gut – are saying it’s time for a change. So, what are the top reasons why you need a new website?
1) Bad content
Customers and search engines depend on content to help them understand what you do. If your content is poor or out of date, you’ll struggle to support customers’ needs, earn conversions, or attract authoritative inbound links.
Remember that good content isn’t just about text. Images are vital to break text blocks up – and useful for previews on social platforms. Video can be more engaging and shareable than long-form articles, too.
If your CMS makes it hard to update content, your site will date quickly. And if you’re beholden to its original developers, you’re wasting money. Either way, it could be time for a new WordPress site.
What is the best CMS to power a digital business?
2) Slow page loads
Customers have limited time and patience. If your pages don’t load quickly on the devices they’re using; they might give up and head somewhere that does. A redesign, for example, a new WordPress site, is a chance to accelerate everything. For more tips, check out ‘How to speed up your WordPress site’.
3) Other Core Web Vitals problems
Slow page loads are just one of the issues to consider within Google’s Core Web Vitals update. In a nutshell, the update aims to reward sites that load fast, respond quickly, and don’t shift about on loading. If your site performs poorly, you may find yourself slipping down the search results – and perhaps even annoying your visitors with slow and clunky behaviour.
4) Bad user experience – especially on mobile
On the subject of annoyed users, too many sites are challenging to read, watch or navigate, and that’s particularly true on mobile platforms. More than 92% of internet users are on a mobile device, at least some of the time. If your website isn’t responsive to different screen sizes, easy to touch-navigate, and legible on a small screen, you’re at risk of losing mobile visitors. If you see high bounce rates and poor conversion rates, you may need a new website that prioritises a good user experience (UX).
5) Dated design and technology
There’s no hard use-by date for a website, but web technology and design move on constantly. Sites that looked crisp five years ago might be showing wrinkles today, while shelved technologies like Flash can break critical functions. If your site is based on old or insecure technology, yes, you guessed it, you probably need a new website.
Improve your WordPress security
6) Bad search and navigation
If customers can’t find the content they need, they’re less likely to stick around or convert. If they can’t link to an article, they’re less likely to share it. If your site’s search, structure, or navigation sucks, it can be hard to fix without a major overhaul.
7) Missing functionality
How many times have you bristled at helpline messages suggesting you use the website when it doesn’t help you do what you need? Don’t be that company: if your site can’t help the users calling your helpline, work out how to add the content or functionality that does.
8) Buggy
Any dead ends, stalled page loads, or other website bugs can ruin your brand’s customer journey and sap confidence. A buggy website will cost you conversions, while a smooth and fully-tested customer experience will support them.
9) Too expensive to maintain
A website should have manageable hosting, licencing, and maintenance costs. Having to spend lots of money on platforms, plugins or add-ons leaves less budget for new features, great content, and other essential optimisations and updates.
10) Are you supporting inbound marketing?
Your website should attract and engage customers at every stage of their journey towards, hopefully, conversion and advocacy. If you can’t create and manage leads, supporting customers through brilliant experiences, you need a new site that can.
11) New business
You might be very happy with your current website, but if your business is changing, it’s time for changes online too. Maybe you need to support new products and partnerships with new content or implement significant technical changes for a new ‘as-a-service’ offering? Whatever the reason for the change, your website will need to reflect them.
12) Rebranding
Sometimes a rebrand, merger or acquisition can change the business’ identity or goals overnight. Outdated ownership, operational or product information is a clear sign you need a new website fast!
13) Off-brand
While we’re talking about branding, there’s little more confusing than a web experience that doesn’t match customer perceptions of the brand. If a sprawling, contradictory web presence undermines your carefully cultivated brand identity, it’s time for an overhaul.
14) Just so generic
And still, on the subject of brands, customers won’t warm to a web presence that’s devoid of character. Your website needs to boldly address what you stand for, what makes you tick, and stress how you’re different. If you see high bounce rates and low conversions, this could be another good reason why you need a new website.
15) I just… don’t like it
Sometimes it’s hard to put your finger on why you don’t like a website, but if it’s yours, then chances are you won’t be updating, sharing, and evangelising it as much as you should be. Your online ‘shopfront’ should be something you’re proud of, reflecting and showcasing the best your company has to offer.
If you suspect you need a new site, we’d generally recommend being led by your data – in particular, trying to get to the bottom of poor search performance and weak scores in metrics like dwell time and bounce rate. If these can’t be fixed with content updates and design tweaks, it may be time for something more wide-ranging.
When there are good reasons to redesign your website, it’s important to develop something that avoids all the pitfalls above. For that, it’s best to seek out a WordPress website development partner who’ll take time to understand your business, its customers, and why you need a new website in the first place. At BrightMinded, we’re always happy to help.
