Signs That Your Website Is Outdated

In the current day and age, one thing you cannot afford to have is an outdated website. Trends are changing all of the time and competition is fierce. You need to ensure that you are constantly updating your website so that you stay ahead of the game. An outdated website not only looks amateurish, but it can have a negative impact on your search engine ranking, which can result in reduced traffic and consequently lowered profits. With that in mind, read on to discover some of the key signs that your website is outdated.
Your website looks old fashioned
Let’s start with the most obvious sign that your website is out-of-date, and this is an old-fashioned design. If your website was designed a long time ago or you used a free website builder, you need to find a reputable website designer to give your site the revamp it so desperately needs. If you are struggling to decide whether your website looks dated or not, there are a couple of things you should do. The first is take a look at websites you are competing with and compare your website against them. The second is to ask friends and family members, as well as your employees, for their opinion. Tell them to be completely honest, and do not get mad if you do not like what they have to say!
Your content is dated
If your content is out of date, then your website is out of date. Go through your website and make sure all of the information on it is accurate and up to date. In addition to this, if you do not have one already, you should think about adding a blog to your website and updating it on a regular basis. This will do wonders for your SEO ranking while also helping to establish your business as an expert in your industry.
Your website does not look good or work well on mobile phones
Nowadays, a responsive website design is a necessity, not a luxury. Today, the vast majority of online use is carried out via mobile phones. If your website is not optimised for use on a smaller device, you are not only going to be missing out on a huge number of prospective clients, but you are going to be an annoyance to people in the process. No one wants to put up with a website that is difficult to read, does not load properly, and doesn’t respond when you click on different tabs and links.
Your website pages are slow to load
If your website is slow to load, you definitely need to make some changes. The Internet is all about convenience. When people search for information or products and services online, they want an instant resolution. They do not want to wait around. Therefore, if your website takes too long to load, they are simply going to click off it and look elsewhere. The best way to determine whether your web pages take too long to load is to use a tool like PageSpeed Insights from Google. If your website is slow, you will need to make some adjustments to improve this. This includes deleting large media files and anything else that could be slowing down your website.
You are dropping the search engine result pages
Another indicator that your website is outdated and needs a bit of attention is if you have started dropping in the search engine result pages. Google and other search engines rank websites based on the user experience and value they provide. If your website is dropping down the rankings, Google clearly does not think that it has much to offer viewers. This could mean many different things. It could be to do with your load speed, as we discussed in the previous paragraph. It could be because the information on your website is not accurate and is out of date. It could be because your website contains broken links or because you do not update it with content on a regular basis.
You are using web design elements that went out of trend a long time ago
There are so many web design elements that were popular ten years or so ago, but quite frankly look ridiculous now. A good example of this is the ‘click on this animation to enter the website’ format. No one wants to click on a daft animation in order to get access to a website. Low-resolution images also need to be avoided like the plague. No one wants to watch a background video either! It makes your website look amateurish and it’s probably going to slow it down a great deal too. You also need to pay attention to the fonts you are using on your website as well. Do you still use Times New Roman? If so, you need an upgrade, and you need it now!
You have a high bounce rate
Last but not least, another evident sign that your website is outdated is if you have a high bounce rate. Bounce rate is a term that is used to describe the percentage of people that visit your website and then click off and go elsewhere. If you have a high percentage, this indicates that your website is not meeting the needs or wants of your visitors. It is worth noting that there are different average bounce rates depending on the industry. Content sites tend to have a high bounce rate, typically between 40 and 60 per cent. Retail websites tend to have a bounce rate between 20 and 40 per cent, lead generation websites have a bounce rate between 30 and 50 per cent, and both portals and service websites have a bounce rate on average between 10 and 30 per cent. There are a number of different ways you can go about improving your bounce rate. This includes reducing external links, getting rid of pop up ads, improving page load speed, linking to a glossary page, building a clear navigation path and menu, and showering your website with relevant content. One reason why your bounce rate may be so high is that you are ranking for keywords that are not relevant to your business, and so when people land on your website, they quickly discover that you are not offering what they were looking for.
If you have noticed any of the signs that have been discussed in this blog post, your website is definitely due a refresh. Follow the advice that has bee provided, and make a continual effort to improve your website. You need to use the data that is available to you and stay up to date with the latest trends so that you can make sure your website is constantly ahead of the competition. After all, the online world does not remain stagnant, and so you cannot afford to either.