Top 5 Reasons To Modernise Your Site For 2020

Redesigning your website is no small job or investment but it’s one that pays for itself in the longer run. Redesign or modernise don’t always mean updates to branding, copy or elements. Modernisation can simply mean more functional updates which serve to help the site work more efficiently and assist in the business meeting its goals.

There are more than 4.33 billion users active on the internet. This explosion of users leads to an expectation that websites serve up a high end user experience. Users form an opinion a millisecond after your page loads within the search results.

Your customer’s first impression of your site is generally based on what they see and experience and many customers will judge the credibility of your business simply by their opinion of your website.  There are 5 key points to reviewing whether your site is up to scratch for 2020.


Poor website performance

The nuts and bolts of your site have the power to influence user experience. If the site is not built on a solid foundation, one or more of the following critical issues will likely result.

Slow speed

A website that loads slowly can be caused by many issues. The most common is images that are not optimised, a convoluted or poorly built theme, too many active plugins, or improper caching. If your site is built with WordPress, ideally you should engage a WordPress managed hosting service as it will ensure your site is continually updated, secured, and performing at its most optimal. To test your site speed, visit Google Page Speed Insights.

Not Mobile Friendly (Responsive)

If your site is not mobile friendly, you will be losing a significant amount of leads and traffic. The average customer frequently uses their phone during the buying process to locate local businesses, research options, and share information socially. So it’s important that they have a positive experience across all channels. A mobile friendly website is a top priority for business owners seeking to make the most of their site. It is a good idea to review your existing site on a device to see whether your site is reaching its potential across all platforms and devices.

Malfunctioning / Confusing Features

If you are making use of multiple plugins to perform various actions on your site, it is imperative that these are managed and updated regularly. Functionality such as shopping carts, contact forms, and pop ups all require standard maintenance to ensure that they are secure and running the most recent version. If these features start to break due to age, users will become frustrated and take their business elsewhere. Functionality and usability should be seen as the goal of your web presence. Neglecting these indicators will impact your leads and profitability.

Outdated Web Design

Businesses choose to redesign their sites for a number of reasons. Typically an outdated look is the driving cause. The general rule of thumb is that a website should be revamped every 3 years. It’s common for businesses to hold on to an old site and spend money on issues caused by age rather than update the site completely. Users can clearly see what’s outdated as they compare cart experiences. All things being equal, a typical customer will choose to purchase from a site that is easy to navigate, looks modern and is engaging. Many people interpret a site to be an expression of what the business represents.

Content & Messaging is Unclear

Having up to date and relevant site content will dramatically improve many things – from customer retention to search engine indexation. As Google algorithms advance, the importance of meaningful content should not be overlooked. Powerful and professional content is a skill which is different to basic writing. Visitors typically skim over a page very quickly and so if the copy is not skimmable then it may repel visitors. A skilled wordsmith can craft language to take the content to the next level.

Confusing Navigation & No Search Ability

It may be an obvious point but relevant and onpoint content is of little use if a visitor can’t find anything. What separates a website from a brochure is a user’s ability to navigate through and find information and products that they are seeking and this journey should be as simple and intuitive as possible. There are a lot of sites on the net which are not designed with the user experience in mind. An optimal user experience demands a simplified navigation framework. To review your website, pay attention to how many navigation items that you have, the language and messaging that you are using, the location of your navigation elements and how many sub levels there are to navigate through. Is the most important content accessible from the homepage? If the answer is no, it may be time to rethink how your site is navigated by users.

Your Site is Not Achieving Your Goals

Maybe your general site configuration is perfect but you still find that few leads are coming in or you are not consistently achieving the goals you have in mind for it. If you aren’t seeing the results you’d hoped for once again you need to reassess what’s going on. A website should engage users morning noon and night. Subsequently, your stats should show that your site is consistently trending toward your goals. Conversion paths should be simple and uncomplicated. Your landing pages should be easy to understand, calls to action should be clear, videos and images should be engaging. If your website is not hitting the mark in this regard, you are missing out on what makes a website so compelling. It’s time to take a closer look to see how you can get it on track and generating results.

Published on Wednesday, 11 March 2020 under Web Design.