Your website has just 50 milliseconds to establish a viewer’s first and lasting impression of your company according to a study conducted at Carlton University in Ontario in 2006. For this reason, creating a website that is aesthetically pleasing is an absolute must in order to portray the image you want for your company in this small window. It’s not that simple though, your site must also be built for speed, conversion and SEO in order to compete. If you’re not already convinced, here are seven reasons (backed by the insight of a group of tech savvy individuals here at RedOlive) for why your old site is damaging your company’s reputation and needs to go:
- What was cool then isn’t cool now:
Remember when these cell phones were cool? Your site should be updated a minimum of every two to three years in order to keep up with the latest trends and new technologies. You can relate this closely to the drastic change of trends in fashion or the technological advances in cell phones over the past three or more years. Would you wear the same things or use the same phone that you did three years ago? We can understand the clothes part if you work out of your basement, but not the phone. In this timeframe there has been a lot of evolution in our world that makes others think much differently. It is important that your site’s viewers find it appealing and know that it has been well maintained to gain trust. To do this you need to create a forward thinking website that will constantly impress your viewers by keeping up on the latest trends in web design and avoiding expired fads like a full flash site and other techniques not readily viewable on all devices. You wouldn’t go out in a rhinestone Koi fish shirt since the expiration of the Ed Hardy fad some years ago, so don’t make your website go out and embarrass itself! Get a site that interacts with its viewers in the most up to date fashion, and hold their interest in your company and what it has to offer.
- Your old site doesn’t adapt:
Outdated websites weren’t created to adapt to our array of mobile devices and browser sizes. Advancements in the creation of mobile and responsive sites allow your viewers to see your website at its best no matter what they’re browsing from. With a reported 45% of internet users connecting via cell phone, providing a version of your site that is appealing to smaller screens is kind of a big deal. Keeping screen size in mind, you must also consider that desktop monitors are growing, and with this growth comes a lot of blank space and unclear content on your outdated website. Most websites that were designed two or three years back were set for an 800 pixel width, this width is not adaptable to the much larger screens we use today and will leave your site’s images and copy pixilated and difficult to view. In sum, having a site that is completely adaptable to any browser size is not only possible but necessary.
- Your old site isn’t built for sales:
Converting your site’s visitors to clients or customers of your business is the whole idea of having a company website in the first place. This being said, it is surprising to see how many businesses don’t capitalize on modern tricks to increase conversion on their sites. It’s important to have an understanding of how conversion works on the internet, and also know how to design your site to support conversion. Even small changes in your site’s structure and use of space or coloring, can cause considerable changes in your conversion rate. Increasing your conversion by even a small percentage will mean big rewards in your company’s profits. With this in mind, consider something as small as the font you’re currently using on your website being a deciding factor in how much your company brings in this year. Modern programming allows for a much larger selection of fonts that are easily applied to your website without problems, and are now offered at no cost by sources like Google Fonts. It may sound silly, but keeping up on the fonts and other seemingly small site features that appeal most to today’s viewer could make the difference in your financial situation this year.
- It’s not social
Making the right connections and keeping your customers interested in what you have to offer is a major key to the success of your business. This introduces yet another problem with your old site because it isn’t utilizing social media integration techniques to keep your customers coming back. Your competitors are already using them to reach customers on a more personal level, so it’s imperative that you do as well to keep up. This is easy with an updated site, because modern sites can be programmed to automatically post about products or company news on Facebook and Twitter to make sure that you’re staying connected with your important client base. Connecting your site with social media profiles will also allow you to take advantage of free advertising to new clients when your existing customers share your posts or “like” your page. Keeping your business socially involved with its customers through social media will give you an important competitive edge that’s needed to succeed in your industry.
- Your old site kills your credibility:
Establishing your brand is an important aspect of creating a successful business. When you’re presenting outdated material and design elements to your viewers, you’re not necessarily putting your best foot forward in making a name for your business. On the other hand, if your site applies modern techniques that lay out your company info in a way that is easy to follow and appealing, you’re successfully creating the company image you need to succeed. Appealing and modern websites are especially important when your business is run solely online because this is the only representation you have to establish your company’s credibility. Outdated sites give viewers a bad feeling about your business in general. If information on your site is difficult to find or takes a long time to load, potential customers will quickly lose trust and wonder whether yours is a legitimate company or not.
- It’s hard to find:
Old sites aren’t built for today’s SEO. When internet users are looking for the product you sell or service you render, having a great search engine ranking will literally put your business above the rest. Not only can your site look and feel old by its design, it can also be perceived as dated by the use of primitive SEO tactics that are easily distinguishable as spam. Search engine algorithms change frequently and so must your SEO strategy to keep your site from potentially being penalized. It’s not 2005 anymore so don’t get caught with your keywords listed on your homepage, squeezing everything above the fold or implanting 30 anchor text links in one paragraph at the bottom of the page. SEO starts with a properly constructed site at its base, and can do wonders in cutting out the competition from there. There are many on-site factors that should be planned and executed at the stage of design and development which really should be left to the professionals. Your new site, combining stellar design with an SEO boost, will surely get noticed!
- It’s just plain ugly:
It’s sad but true that looks are of utmost importance to our society today. If your site doesn’t appeal to its viewers, they won’t be motivated to see the inner beauty your site has to offer, and by that I mean your company’s true value. People subconsciously judge your business by that first impression mentioned earlier. If your website gave them a bad vibe in that initial 1/20th of a second, they’re not likely to be impressed by your company later no matter how great your products or services may be. A well crafted, easy to follow, and aesthetically pleasing site will start your relationship with the viewer off on the right foot and increase the likelihood that they will become a client.
Now that you’ve gotten expert input from our team of designers, programmers, and SEO specialists at Red Olive, you know why it is crucial that you get rid of your ugly old site for the sake of your business. That’s right, out with the old and in with the new! Start fresh with a beautifully crafted and modern version of your site that is built for SEO and conversion. Here at Red Olive we are up to date on the latest and greatest in web design and SEO. This means that we know exactly what to do to build a stellar site that gets results by appealing to viewers and search engines alike. Give us a call today @ 801-545-0410 or click here for a quote to get started.
