Is 2023 the year for your new website?
How was 2022 for your business? Whether Covid-19 is still impacting your business, you’re seeing the effects of the cost-of-living crisis we’re all in, or maybe your business had a bit of an uplift at the start and then plateaued. We’re all looking for ways to improve and see an upward trend, whether that’s sales from an e-commerce site, bookings, walk-ins, phone calls or enquiries. One of the first places you should look is your website. So when is the right time to employ a web development agency?
In this article, we look at common problems we see with outdated websites and what you can expect from a newly developed website in 2023.
Common problems we come across with outdated websites
As a full-service marketing agency in Dorset, we’ve seen our fair share of (quite frankly) awful websites, the good, the bad and the ugly, but we never judge, everyone has to start somewhere, right?
There is a huge sense of satisfaction from showing a client their initial design and comparing it to what they have at the current time. So with this in mind, what are some of the common issues we’ve seen?
Lots of stock imagery
Stock imagery can be seen a mile away and whilst it certainly still has its place in web design, if you can avoid using it, your website will have much more personality. If you can’t get together good ‘original photography’, then being a bit more picky with your stock imagery, so that it still looks on brand and could potentially be edited, will make you stand out more against competitors.
Not mobile responsive
Did you know that 59.5% of internet traffic comes from mobile devices?*
All the websites we build are ‘mobile first’ meaning we put this design ahead of the desktop version. Many older websites still are not mobile responsive, making it very difficult for the user to navigate through the site resulting in a higher bounce rate and the customer going elsewhere.
Following old-school SEO practices
There was a time when ‘keyword stuffing’ was a great way of getting yourself up the ranks on Google organic listings, but these days are gone and Google will actually penalise you for this now. So if your website is following old SEO practices take a look at your content and how it could be adjusted to be a bit more ‘2023’.
Isn’t conversion-led
Conversions should be your main priority for your website, regardless of your service offering. Is your current site doing a good job of collecting potential customers’ data and converting it? You’ll be able to get analytical data on this stat via your Google Analytics account.
Inconsistent branding
If you initially built your website 6 years ago, let’s say, it’s likely your brand has evolved since then, so your online presence via your website may not be matching that on your social media channels or printed materials.
Botched landing pages
We see a lot of businesses try to botch their current site as and when new pages are required, however, the problem with this is that the navigation and branding can take a hit when this is done, there is only so much ‘polishing a turd’ that can be done until it just looks messy. By starting from scratch, future updates will be much easier and will probably save you time and money in the long run!
Running a non-secure URL
A few years back there was a big surge of pushing businesses to ensure that their site was secure, in layman’s terms, this means having ‘https’ at the beginning of your URL rather than just ‘http’. Whilst a lot of businesses did make the move to a secure site, some people missed the memo and are still running a non-secure site.
What does this mean for your business? In worst-case scenarios, your website may not even be accessible to the general public, Google is basically penalising those that don’t have a secure site as it can be a breeding ground for hackers! Any credentials shared via your website, whether this is via a checkout or login screen are insecure. A big no-no, in particular for e-commerce sites.
Let’s talk results
We won’t make big claims that the moment your new website is live you’ll see 50% more traffic and an extreme uplift in conversions as there are many factors that go into a website’s success, but we can promise that it will reflect your brand much better than it was and that the elements for success will be there. We monitor new websites carefully to ensure the ‘call to actions (CTA’s)’ are performing as we would like them to, keeping an eye on the most visited pages and their drop-off rates.
You will also have a period of time on our security package so we will keep an eye on the website from a security point of view, checking contact forms, the checkout system, updates etc.
Speak to a Dorset web development agency in 2023
If you’re currently looking at your website and it’s ticking some of the boxes of common problems we see with outdated websites, then get in touch with us to discuss the next steps.
Give our team a call at 01202 888200 or email us at info@cwmarketing.co.uk.
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