Websites have become one of the most powerful tools for small local and family-run businesses, and having a platform online is incredibly beneficial. Of course, when you create a website for your business, it is undeniably essential to ensure that you’re continually updating it. After all, the last thing you want is for it to advertise incorrect information or make your business come across as inactive.
Aside from ongoing maintenance and occasional optimisation work that you will carry out on your website, you may also find that you need to make some much more significant changes. If your website is no longer as successful as it used to be, you may even get to the point where your website needs a professional redesign. Don’t worry; this isn’t a rare thing. When you use a professional website designer, it isn’t difficult to get the revamp you need.
We’ve put together some easy checks to help small businesses ensure that they’re getting the most out of their websites as possible. Below you’ll find some warning signs to consider. Ultimately, if you notice any of these things, then it is likely that a professional redesign is the best move.
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Do people keep bouncing back to the search engine?
Simply put, your ‘bounce rate’ is the number of visitors who leave your website and bounce back to the search engine after only looking at one page. Of course, if visitors don’t want to click onto different pages on your website, then they won’t be investing in your business, so you will probably need to make some changes.
More often than not, the first page that visitors will see is your home page – if they’re bouncing back from here, you will want to think about giving this page a facelift.
Remember, first impressions are essential, and you need to ensure that your website is showing your business off in the best light. If you’re not sure what makes a good website design in this regard, check out our guide or get in touch with a professional to learn more.
Can users easily navigate your website?
Common wisdom holds that low page views are the enemy for small business websites – it essentially means that people aren’t viewing particular pages of your site. That’s true, but you should be wary if one or two pages are capturing all of your traffic, as well. Both of these things can indicate that your website layout isn’t as good as it should be, and visitors are struggling to find the information that they want/need on your site.
Ideally, your website should be as straightforward as possible. When you work with a professional web designer, they’ll be able to make sure that your website has a layout that is easy to use for everyone, no matter how little experience they have with the internet.
A cleaner website will help to prevent visitors from giving up on your business because they’re unable to find what they want, and it will provide them with a better experience overall.
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Are your visitors not engaging with your website?
When referring to your website the word ‘engagement’ means that people are doing things such as; clicking on your products, moving between pages and making enquiries, essentially it covers any interaction with your website. If people aren’t engaging at all, then it is likely that there is a problem somewhere.
You might find that there aren’t enough ways for your visitors to engage with your site and you need to add more calls to action and internal links, for example. Your content will also help with your engagement – having useful and relevant information for your visitors will encourage them to engage with you.
Is your website taking a long time to load?
Visitors will expect your website to load quickly and, if it doesn’t, they will bounce back to the search engine and go elsewhere. Generally speaking, if your website doesn’t load in 3 seconds, then you can expect to lose visitors who could potentially be new clients.
There are a few different reasons why your website might be loading slowly, so it’s best to turn to an expert for advice is this regard is the best thing to do. When redesigning your site, they will be able to ensure that it now loads as quickly as possible.
Can you use your website on a mobile or tablet device?
You may hear the term ‘responsive’ used when talking about websites: this refers to your site’s ability to adjust to whichever device is used to visit it, whether that’s a computer, a mobile phone, a tablet, and so on.
If you don’t have a responsive website: or one that adapts to the device, the browsing experience can be incredibly frustrating for some users, and many will leave as soon as they land on it. Nearly all successful websites you find today will adjust depending both the screen size and orientation for a specific device. If you don’t have a responsive website, you’ll want to make that an essential element of your redesign process. Of course, at UENI, we offer responsive design on all of our websites.
Getting your website redesigned
All in all, if you notice any of the five signs mentioned above, then you really should consider reaching out to a professional web designer for a revamp of your site. You can trust that they will know how to improve everything from your website’s layout to its overall usability, which will, in turn, help to ensure that it is as effective as possible for you. We can also create a new website for your business in just 7 days, and you can share your current one with us, so we can use it as a reference.
Of course, if you don’t yet have a website for your business and you’re interested in getting one built, we can help with that as well. Our incredible team of researchers, web designers and copywriters will work to create a fantastic business website for you.