4 Good Reasons To Give Your Website a “Fall Overhaul”

Just like spring cleaning is a time to prepare for the busier months ahead, fall overhaul is a time to come back from the distractions of warmer/sunnier days and prepare for internal growth. For many business owners, one place to start is by looking at your website.

The good news is that you might not need to change a thing! If you’re the type who already keeps up with the trends (to the best of your ability) year round, then your website is probably good to go.

Unless…

Your website is not mobile device friendly. Or mobile device user-friendly.

Everyone’s talking about how important it is that your website is responsive (smartphone and tablet friendly.) It makes sense… personal devices are replacing desktop and laptop computers and so a non-responsive website is going to hurt you more than it helps.

At the same time, responsive design doesn’t automatically mean your website is mobile device user-friendly. To truly keep up with the demands of on-the-go web browsing, a complete restructure should be done to clean out the clutter and simplify architecture, navigation, and information.

Your website has a bunch of features it doesn’t really need.

At first, certain features seem to make sense. This weather widget, that mortgage calculator, this page full of related resources, etc.

Over time, you should be paying attention to see if certain features truly do add value to your site, or if they are a complete waste. If nobody ever uses it, it’s probably not necessary.

The purpose of your website has changed.

Most businesses start out with a brochure-type website. Over time, your needs have grown and the purpose of your website should grow right along with it. If you started out as a general “product info” website and now need the ability to sell your products online then you may want to consider an e-commerce solution rather than an informational website with e-commerce features built in.

More importantly, you have a high bounce rate.

A high bounce rate is the worst sign that you’re doing something wrong. It’s like a mob of people walked into your store and then left immediately without buying anything. It means you’re doing something wrong, you’re turning people off immediately.

The fix here is simple. Review your marketing strategies to make sure you aren’t drawing in the wrong audience or setting the stage for disappointment. Also, you probably want to hire a new web developer who can change the impact your website is making and keep traffic interested.