We know you cringed at the mention of a website update. It can be a time consuming and tedious process. But we also know the significance of our online presence — and it’s one of the things we should make a point to prioritize. “According to Stanford University, 75% of people judge the credibility of a company based on the design of its website.”
Ensuring users have a positive experience with our website helps lock in leads and lay the foundation for a successful working relationship! We’ve put together a few telltale signs that it may be time for an updated (or overhauled!) website.
It’s been a minute
Technology is constantly evolving. Just when you get used to a new operating system, device, or program – it changes! The same is true for website technology. It is safe to say that if your website is 3-5 years, old, it is out of date. Often we think about the aesthetics and features of our websites – while those are critical components, keeping up with advancing technology is even more important from an SEO and digital marketing perspective. The backend elements and optimizations contribute to how well our website ranks in search results – and ultimately allows prospects to find us!
Your website doesn’t function well on mobile devices
Statistics show that upwards of 50% of website searches are done on mobile devices. That fact is impossible to ignore – and it should prompt us to pull up our websites on various phones and tablets to test the experience our prospects and clients are having. All navigation items, pages, components, and images should display seamlessly and quickly.
Analytics tell a sad story
If you’re saying to yourself, “what analytics?, “where do I see my website analytics?”, you are not alone! A lot of wedding and event pros don’t know where to access important website data or simply don’t take the time to review it. A few minutes in Google Analytics can be eye opening! If you don’t have Google Analytics enabled on your website, don’t sweat it – it is relatively simple to add. And it can be added to any website. There are tons of support articles to help you through the process.
When you are viewing your website data, some of the things you should be looking for is:
- Bounce rate – are users landing on your site and leaving almost immediately? A high bounce rate signals that users didn’t like what they saw or didn’t find what they were looking for and left.
- Time on page – generally, the longer users are on your website, the better!
- Page visits – similar to the above point, the more pages users visit, the more they are seemingly liking what they see! If they aren’t visiting multiple pages, it could indicate they lost interest from the get-go and didn’t seek further information about your business.
- Conversion – are users submitting a contact form? Are they calling? Joining your email list? The ultimate goal is for them to take action during or after visiting your website.
Users have time to grab a snack while waiting for pages to load
“According to KISSmetrics, 47% of consumers expect a web page to load in 2 seconds or less, and 40% of people will abandon a website that takes more than 3 seconds to load!” Website speed directly correlates to SEO performance and ranking in search results. Slow websites don’t perform or rank well – and users don’t stick around to wait for content to display. No matter what state your website is in, one thing you can do is compress all photos and images for quicker loading time.
Competition is fierce
We all know and love “friendors” in our area. But the truth is, potential clients are looking at your website – and theirs. How does yours compare? Does your brand resonate? Is it easy to navigate? Clients are going to make a decision based on their first impression of you…your website. Make it count by ensuring your website puts your best foot forward. Then seal the deal with your quick response time and glowing personality 🙂
Resources:
Hubspot
Unleashed Technologies
