We reach a certain point in life where we start staring more intensely in the mirror, looking back at ourselves. We scrutinise every line, every wrinkle, every blemish and any other flaw we think into existence. We yearn for change, which is understandable, as we search for the need for our own self-development. But not all change is necessary.
With websites, the pursuit for change is no different. We reach a point where we feel that they just seem outdated, archaic and mundane. Many businesses feel that their website hasn’t changed for years and have this feeling of stagnation—especially when they see a competitor with a shiny new website. Maybe the stagnation is true, and there is a need for that new lick of paint. Although, what if it’s not true. What if your website was performing better than said competitor with the new, jazzy website design? Put simply, your website might not be broken enough for you to go wanting to fix it.
Out with the Old, in with the New?
Naturally, you see your website every day, so it’s normal to get bored of something you’ve come to see every day. How often do you stand in front of your wardrobe and come to the conclusion that you just don’t have anything to wear? We get bored of the things we see daily and want to experience the frill of something new.
Though, just remember, your website was not built with the purpose of making YOU feel alive. It’s for customers to come and buy from your website, which makes THEM feel alive. If your website is performing at a level where you’re receiving the level of traffic you intended for, then it’s not broken.
Keep reading: Understanding why you need a website »
Even if you’re not so hot on your own site, that doesn’t necessarily mean customers are as well. For those coming to your website, it’s most likely their first time coming across it. So for you, you may see it as old, tired and boring, whereas for them it’s new, vibrant and eye-capturing. It was Michael Jordan who said that he would always try to put on a show for fans every night when he played basketball because somewhere in the arena there was at least one fan who had never seen him play before.
This is not to say that websites shouldn’t be updated. Like most things in the world, left alone long enough, will inevitably become stale. Just because your website is working and converting now, doesn’t mean it will continue to do so down the line. So it’s important to keep optimising your website to maximise its performance. A/B testing is a great practice that you should always be implementing. This experimentation could include testing between two different call-to-action buttons, two different landing pages or just rewriting and repurposing existing content on the page.
Beauty Is in the Eye of Website Maintenance
Your site needs to be kept regularly updated in order to be indexed by the big search engines and stand any chance of being or remaining high on the organic rankings.
However, just to reiterate, updating does not mean destroying and rebuilding. Unless your site is operating on outdated technologies, there is rarely a need to completely rebuild a website from scratch. There are instances, however, where you may want to consider a whole new redesign. For example, if you have chosen to refresh or totally rebrand your business, then redesigning your website to align with it makes sense, as this creates a synergy across your marketing channels.
Whatever your needs are, we’ve got you covered. Our SEO technicians can fix and/or update your site without overhauling its look. We also have creative web designers who can modernise your website should you require an overhaul.
We also run a Digital Marketing Course that teaches you other ways to improve your website’s online presence. Book your place for the upcoming course here ».
