Updating A Tired Looking Website

By Gavin Kilgallon on Friday, 26 April 2024

Updating A Tired Looking Website

Even the most successful websites will start to date and lose effectiveness over time. Signals that your website may need help include declining traffic, increased bounce rate, decreased conversions, and declining SERPs. Comparing your website negatively to competitors can also indicate it might require a facelift.

This article aims to help you determine whether your website requires a refresh, guide you through planning, and outline the best methods for achieving success.

Diagnosing Your Website Performance

Hopefully, your website has some analytical software, such as GA4, that can provide fantastic information regarding its performance. Some of the critical data you need to analyse include.

• Traffic numbers: If the number of visitors to your website is continuously on a downward spiral over a sustained period, then this could be a good indication that something is wrong with your website and needs further investigation.
• Conversion rates: Reduced conversions indicate that your website might be having issues. Especially if your traffic numbers are constant, it would indicate that fewer people are behaving as you intended.
• Bounce rate: A high bounce rate indicates that visitors only view one page of your website before leaving. The concern is that you are not engaging your visitors; consequently, they will not be converted into customers.
• Traffic sources: Understanding where your website traffic comes from is extremely important. If your target market is the UK, and only 5% of your monthly traffic is from the UK, this would suggest a flaw with your website, SEO or marketing.

In addition, you should look at other core website vitals when assessing its effectiveness. These include:

• Loading time: Slow-loading websites will diminish user experience, potentially be penalised by Google, incur a high bounce rate and, as a result, lower conversions.
• Responsive credentials: Any website that does not embrace responsive design instantly alienates a large percentage of its target audience, and it should be immediately rectified if your website lacks responsive fundamentals. Statista quoted that during the last quarter of 2023, 58.67% of searches were made via mobile devices.
• Accessibility: In modern web design, creating accessible websites that are inclusive and cater to disabilities is a must, and in some circumstances, there are laws enforcing compliance. By excluding certain individuals, your business is missing out on a market segment that doesn't need to be.

Breathing Life Back Into Your Website

So you have concluded that your online presence needs a facelift, but what is the best way to implement this? Below are some strategic steps that can be implemented. Not all will be relevant; it will often depend on the type of website and the current issues you are facing.

User Interface Redesign

Many companies update their websites when they feel they are falling behind their competitors. This can be due to many reasons, including the design or website functionality. It's natural to think it's time for a change when you look at your business rivals and feel their websites look or function better.

Design updates can have several benefits in addition to the obvious aesthetic ones. An improved UX (User Experience) can help increase your conversion rate while reducing bounce rate, as visitors are more likely to interact with your website. These can indirectly help with SEO and increase your website's SERPs.

Content

Nothing looks more unprofessional than a website with out-of-date, misleading or uninteresting content. Adding concise, up-to-date content that appeals to your target market is a simple and effective way to revitalise a website. It improves user engagement and interaction and can also have additional benefits, such as improved SEO and brand image.

Content must consider the new Google March 2024 update and incorporate the EEAT principles. Do not jump onto an AI application and ask it to write text for you. Google looks favourably at websites that produce unique, valuable content that caters for the audience's needs.

Interactive Elements

Interactive elements can be a simple yet extremely effective way to reengage users on your website. Examples could include interaction using Three.JS or Canvas, incorporating video, or offering live chat. Interactive elements will help retain users and can support core website objectives.

Incorporating A Brand Refresh Into Your Website

If your brand has been updated, then this needs to be reflected on your website to enforce brand consistency. A consistent brand across all mediums helps reflect professionalism, reinforces your brand voice, and helps customers recognise your business. Updating a website with new branding can be quite time-consuming, often involving significant design changes, a new colour structure, and different typography and layout. This will involve changes in the design and the HTML5/CSS3 code.

How Do I Update My Website?

There are two different options when it comes to completing a website refresh:

• If your company has an in-house marketing team with web designers and developers and has the capacity, you could complete the update yourself.
• If you lack the in-house resources or time to complete the website update, you will need to use the services of a freelancer or web design agency. ID Studio has written an article discussing the pros and cons of choosing between a freelancer and a web design agency.

A/B Testing

A/B testing is a great way to make your website refresh successful. By comparing two versions of your website (A, the current one, and B, the updated version), you can directly see which elements perform better with your audience. When used properly it helps you to understand what changes enhance the user experience, increase engagement, and, importantly, boost conversions. Whether it's a complete redesign, tweaking call-to-action triggers, adjusting layouts, or testing new content, A/B testing takes the guesswork out of website updates, ensuring real user data drive decisions.

Monitoring And Ongoing Plan

Monitoring the changes made to your website is crucial for several reasons. Firstly, it allows you to measure the effectiveness of the updates against your objectives, be it increasing user engagement, reducing bounce rate, or boosting conversions. Without tracking these updates, it’s challenging to understand what is working and what isn’t, making it difficult to justify further investment. Additionally, constant monitoring helps identify any issues or bugs introduced with the new changes that could negatively impact user experience or SEO performance.

If you would like any further information or help evaluating the effectiveness of your website, contact ID Studio anytime for an informal chat.