More than ever before, you need to have a digital presence. Your website should be the starting point for your online strategy. It should be the solid foundation on which all of your other digital touch-points are build upon. So why do so many small businesses not make the proper investment in theirs? Here are the 10 tell-tale signs that you need a new website.

The starting point for any business is a website. A good one will enable you to compete effectively, it will build trust with your customers and it will pave the way for a smooth customer journey from the awareness stage, right through to retention and nurture. A bad website? Well, you can definitely kiss all of that goodbye. 

What Does A Good Website Look Like?

Businesses can (and do!) spend small fortunes building beautiful, intricate websites that become the keystone to their brand. And that’s great – if you can afford it! But many small businesses don’t have the capital to invest like this. Or, they only invested 3 to 5 years ago and can’t consider doing that again so quickly. If you measure your website based on the best websites out there, you’ll always come off second best. There will always be a website out there prettier than yours, or more high-tech than yours. But is that really what you need to be worrying about?

For a website to be successful however, functionality is just as important (if not more!) then looks. From an SEO perspective, Google have repeatedly told us that user experience is just as important as key words for determining Search Engine Results Pages (SEPRs) rankings. At the end of the day, your customers really don’t care how much you paid a graphic designer to work on the aesthetics of your site. They just want a quick and easy journey from A to B. 

The Trouble With Band-Aid Fixes

A website is not simply a one time pay-and-go investment. It is a living, breathing business organism and its health needs to be constantly monitored. It needs to be constantly evolving to ensure it remains fast, it keeps up with your customers requirements and supports as much of the new tech available as possible.

Depending on the usability of your initial website, there may be ways that your development team can work to keep your website refreshed. But as the tech in this space rapidly changes, and as more and more plug-ins are added to your site, the end result will be a heavier, clunkier and slower webpage. And it can start to actually do more damage to your business than good!

The hard truth is… If your website has been online for 3+ years you probably need to update it.

When Do You Need A New Website?

If your website has any of the issues below, then it is probably time to consider a brand new website.

1. High bounce rate

Bounce rate is when visitors come to your site but only visit the first page they land on before leaving. They don’t click on another page or engage with any of your Call To Actions (CTAs). It could be that they didn’t find what they are looking for, but it could