- Because putting your business online isn't really optional anymore...
Think of your website as a storefront. It’s the first impression you’ll have on new potential customers. In less than a second, they’ll either like what they see and continue to look at your offerings or quickly hop off. First impressions play a role in future interactions, impacting how they’ll view your brand in the days, months, and years to come. Similar to going on a first date, you’re looking to dress up and impress everyone at first glance!
But how do you know if your site is ready for the occasion or is feeling a bit lackluster? There are a few telltale signs that your online presence is in need of a refresh. Keep reading to learn what they are.
1. Your Bounce Rate is High
When someone comes across your site via search, you only have a few seconds to make an impact. If you mislead users, not answering their questions or burying the answer, then they’re more likely to go back to the search page. This is commonly known as bounce rate, a metric that shows how many users leave a site after only viewing one page. These users aren’t taking any action or viewing other pages, meaning the time spent on the site is very low. Since it gauges users’ overall engagement, a high bounce rate is a sign that you need to update your content.
One way to decrease your bounce rate and provide users with informative, connected content is through leveraging content clusters. As opposed to having multiple pieces of content that are disjointed and not linkable, content clusters help organize your content strategy. The pieces are linked together back to a main landing page, providing a smart navigation system for your site. Search engines are also more likely to award sites with an organized content strategy in place, as it demonstrates a site’s topical relevance and expertise within a given field.
2. You’re Not Converting New Leads
Every business needs leads to, well, stay in business. Leads are potential new customers, individuals who are interested in your brand’s products or services. They may have heard about you from another friend or perhaps they found you via search. Regardless, leads can help improve your brand’s visibility, establishing credibility and trust within the marketplace. However, you can have leads while not seeing them convert — an issue that directly impacts your bottom line.
To solve this problem, you may want to start with optimizing your site’s landing pages and ensuring you have clear and direct calls-to-action. If the lead form, for example, is too lengthy or cumbersome you may have potential buyers drop off before making a purchase. Alternatively, if they don’t know where to go to make a purchase, they may become frustrated and choose another brand instead. Make sure your CTAs are short, direct, and visible. The last thing you want is for an interested buyer to drop off just because they are confused about where to go!
3. Your Site Isn’t Mobile Friendly
From January to April 2024, over three-quarters of retail site visits were made from a smartphone. This means that more mobile commerce was the biggest device for sales. If your site isn’t mobile-friendly, you’re certainly losing out on a huge percentage of potential revenue. Even if your site looks beautiful on a desktop or laptop screen, if it’s unreadable on a smaller screen then it’s not benefiting you.
Having a responsive design is the easiest way to ensure your site looks great and functions as intended on any sized screen. Thankfully, many site builders have a responsive option, so you won’t necessarily have to go through a huge redesign. However, if your site was custom built by a designer, it may require more legwork. When redesigning your site, think less is more. Don’t fall into the trap of cluttering the page with lots of text or images that are slow to load.
4. Your Website Security is Lacking
Privacy and security are top of mind for shoppers today. With the rise of hackers, consumers are more aware of what is legit and what seems to be phishing or spam. Because of this, ensuring your site’s security is top-notch and reliable is of the utmost importance.
If you’re still using the older HTTP data transmission protocol, viewers will see a red ‘not secure’ warning within the browser’s address bar. This alone will turn people away. Adding security plugins is also important to keep consumer’s financial information confidential. Many site builders offer a number of plugins to keep your site safe and your consumers’ personal information protected. Make sure to leverage this technology.
Takeaways
If you read through this article and found it relatable, there’s a high likelihood that your website is in need of a refresh. While the idea of updating your site can be overwhelming, break it down into manageable steps. Think about what is going to move the needle the most, and start there. Maybe you start by making your site more mobile-friendly, then you can start diving into your content strategy. With each update and refresh, take note of how your site traffic changes and if you’re seeing an increase in sales. These are good signs that you’re on the right path!