How do you know when it is time to design a new website for your business?
There are many factors that play into this. First and foremost is age. How old is your website? If you work in a competitive market, it is best not to let your website age beyond 2 – 3 years. If your website is 4 – 5 years old, then it is time to build a new website, so start planning. Technology changes fast in this day and age. Your website must be able to keep up with it.
The second factor that you must consider is whether or not your site is mobile friendly. Many people are using their mobile phones to view websites. For this reason, it is absolutely imperative that your website be mobile compatible.
One of the most important things to recognize is that your website must have a good Content Management System (CMS). A good CMS will allow you to do many things, like interlinking your website, optimizing your SEO and keep your website running smoothly.
The next thing you must ask yourself is if your website looks ‘dated.’ If your site looks old, visitors to your site will feel that it reflects the level of your skills, or opine that your ideas are as old fashioned as your website. Your website should evolve as much as your ideas do over time. Your website should reflect the evolution of your work.
Lastly, additional things that you need to consider are related to Google. Two things you need to know are if your website is loading fast enough for Google standards and if your site is ranking on Google.
If your site takes longer that 3 seconds to load, Google penalizes your website. This can result in a low ranking for your site. This is where the age of your site once again comes into play. If your site is about 5 years old, it more than likely takes longer than 3 seconds to load. To learn more about how your website operates, utilize the Google PageSpeed Insights tool.
Google rankings are tied directly to how your website functions. As Google updates its algorithm, your website’s ranking can be affected if your website is older. There are aspects of your websites functionality that are calculated into Google’s algorithm. If there is an aspect/feature that your website is missing, it can affect the way the algorithm chooses results to post on a search.
The Muse Marketing Group knows how overwhelming all of this information can be. We can help you break it down into manageable pieces, so you have a better handle on how your website works and what steps you need to move forward and build a new site. Contact us today!