The Key Signs That Your Website Needs Renovating

‘When should I renovate or rebuild a website?’ ‘Is there a need to totally rebuild the website or can I simply modify the existing one?’ ‘It looks ok, why change it now?’

If you’ve ever asked these questions, this article will help you.

At Relevance we believe in giving our clients clear and unbiased feedback.

We produce extensive, user-friendly analytics reports on a monthly basis to demonstrate the value of SEO and digital marketing campaigns, and to identify untapped opportunities. It’s the flexibility of digital marketing campaigns, as well as their responsiveness and our ability to measurable their results, that make them so profitable.We are so confident of the effectiveness of our work that we don’t sign clients to lengthy contracts; they can stop, or take a break, if and when they want.

So, if we are asked whether our clients need a totally new website to increase SEO, we will often say ‘no’. An existing website can be optimised for SEO in under 2 months; ongoing campaigns will then ensure that a powerful impact is maintained.

There are, however, key signs that show you may be in need of a new website.

Seven signs:

1. Mobile optimisation

The power of user experience can make or break your website. Since 21^st April 2015, Google has considered ‘mobile friendliness’ as a key ranking factor. A mobile-friendly site will present content well and be easy to read and navigate on tablets and smartphones. Google has helpfully developed a tool that anyone can use to check the URL of a website to see if it’s optimised for mobile devices.

2. Your search engine ranking has fallen

Google changes the algorithms it uses to return search results over 500 times a year and these changes can have a major impact upon your site’s ranking. Using quality content marketing, extensive keyword research and other digital marketing solutions, you could overhaul your website and ensure that you maintain and increase visibility on Google.

3. Your website looks outdated

Some of the older websites might even rely on Flash, which seems as retro as Flash Gordon himself (if you have to ask ‘who?’ then lucky you). Flash doesn’t work on Apple devices. With well over 600 million happy Apple users worldwide, that is a lot of lost business. You might have changed your branding, style or given your store a fresh lick of paint, so why wouldn’t you invest in the look and feel of your website? In the future, your mobile-friendly website will become the most familiar face of your company or brand.

4. You’re not in control of your Content Management System

Or perhaps your CMS is outdated. WordPress is a useful tool and many companies with simple portfolio websites are satisfied with the usability of this most popular CMS. However, for websites that require particular functions, or will require future updates, such as real estate companies or ecommerce sites, a bespoke Content Management System offers a safer investment. You should aim to have a CMS that is suited to your way of working, compatible with your systems, quick to learn and easy for your in-house ‘webmaster’ to use.

5. You want to measure the effectiveness of your marketing

This can be set up from the start, so that you can measure the results of your marketing and capitalise on new opportunities, quickly and efficiently, with minimum spend.

6. Your bounce rate is high

It’s increasingly important to have better navigation on your website so that it is user-friendly. Research shows that this has an extreme effect on the bounce rate. And with one of Google’s latest algorithm changes meaning those spiders consider time on page, it’s even more important to keep your organic traffic on your site.

7. Untouched may mean insecure

If your website has not been touched for some time, then it is quite possible it is vulnerable to attack. You could risk your customer’s data and your own reputation. Certain types of attack/hack are detected by Google, your website will then be flagged as unsafe for visitors. A new website that functions well and looks good will be more secure; with a proper management plan it will remain so.

Relevance will put together the perfect team to carry out your project, including: a dedicated and experienced project manager, highly skilled web developers and designers, a content manager (who’ll direct the copywriters) and a social media manager. (You’ll only have to deal with the one project manager, who’ll make sure all your ideas, suggestions and requirements are satisfied and the project runs smoothly to your deadline.)