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Signs Your Website Needs a Facelift

Have you ever clicked on a search engine result and "clicked back" almost immediately if you didn't like the look of the website?

Your website has a huge impact on how prospects and customers perceive your company. The look and feel of your homepage must convey professionalism and trustworthiness. A poorly structured or dated website may give the impression that your organization is struggling and may make visitors think twice before doing business with you. And while aesthetics plays a big part, without delivering a great user experience, you will not be able to reach your business goals.

You may be concerned that revamping your entire website may cost a lot of money, but in most cases, minor tweaks can provide significant improvements. Here are a few indications that your website is due for an overhaul.

You don’t rank well on Google

Being on the coveted top spot on Google search results provides an excellent opportunity to be in front of potential customers. According to SearchEngineWatch.com, a whopping 36% of clicks go to the top website that appears on the list. Thus, your site’s Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy is of utmost importance.

If in the past, you have hired SEO professionals who simply resorted to keyword stuffing and sneaky backlinks, then you are likely to find your Google rankings deteriorate since these would be a clear violation of Google’s Webmaster Guidelines.

The Google algorithm consistently evaluates the most recent, relevant and credible content when it decides which websites to show first to users. In fact, Google states that the four pillars of SEO in its Quality Rating Guidelines are: expertise, authority, trust and maintenance. So if you created your website a couple of years ago, it may be time to undergo an SEO audit and refresh by a reliable website developer.

Find a service provider who is not only skilled in the technical aspect of SEO but also has the creative chops to produce killer content. Most people have very short attention spans and your copy must quickly engage and convince the reader in the least number of words possible. Nowadays, you can’t expect your target audience to read though and digest long paragraphs. Make your text “scannable” or you might risk losing their interest. To be effective, be sure your text is focused on the customer and how it will help them solve problems and challenges and not simply about pushing your product.

Your website is not mobile friendly

There are currently 2.4 billion smart phone users around the world and this figure is projected to exponentially increase as the devices become more affordable. You can bet that the future is in mobile, and more and more people will be accessing the internet through these gadgets. Having a design responsive website allows your pages to automatically fit the size and resolution of the screen. This ensures that there are no grids that are out of place or buttons that become non-functional. If your website is not optimized to be viewed on a mobile device, this can negatively affect your user’s mobile experience and they will be most likely to move on to your competitor.

You don’t have proper landing pages

A landing page is a specific web page that is intended to highlight a marketing or advertising campaign. Landing pages are central in increasing your conversion rates. Most business owners make the mistake of creating compelling ads on Google or social media about a promotion or certain product but when viewers click the link, it sends them to a generic homepage. This annoys the user since they would have to navigate the website to find the item they are looking for. Thus, a landing page that directly corresponds to your ad or messaging is imperative. Just be sure that these pages allow the user to get to the rest of your website in case they want to search for more information or look at other products on offer.

Your website is not secure

Google takes security seriously and as of October 2017, it started flagging websites that do not have a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). This innovation guarantees that all sensitive information such as passwords, credit card information, and other personal data are protected against hackers. For users using Chrome, a website that does not have the proper SSL will carry a warning that says “Not Secure.” Of course, this will not bid well for any business that doesn’t have this updated feature as it will immediately turn off potential visitors. On top of that, SSL is now also considered a ranking signal and may affect your website’s SEO ranking as well.

Do you need help revamping your website or optimizing your web content?