8 Signs It’s Time to Redesign Your Website
You sit down to check on your website, and you notice something’s different.
Your site is running slower than you remember.
You start feeling frustration boil up since you’ve been driving tons of traffic to your site.
You start brainstorming what the problem could be.
Are my images too heavy?
Is my site cluttered?
Is Squarespace doing another update?
But the most important question of all...
“Is this impacting my client’s experience?!”
If you’ve found yourself asking any of the questions about your site, it may mean it’s time to update your website.
The signs may be insignificant now, but they can really do damage to your brand and bottom line in the long run.
Your website is one of the first points of contact your clients will make with you, and an outdated website can stop them from really getting to know you.
If your visitors can’t find what they’re looking for, your images take too long to load, or even if your messaging and offerings are outdated, unfortunately, they'll leave immediately.
As a consultant, your website should be your ideal client’s dream.
A place they can easily find what they’re looking for, a place that highlights you as the expert, and a place that’s simple, intuitive, and welcoming.
The goal of your website is to showcase your personality and your services in a way that’s easy to navigate. That’s the key to creating an enjoyable experience that’ll build trust and loyalty with your clients.
So… when was the last time you redesigned your website?
You and your brand are constantly growing and evolving, and so should your website.
Your brand is a living, breathing work of art that evolves with you.
If you’ve entered a new season or changed anything about your brand and business, now is the time to start planning for your new digital home.
On the blog, I've outlined 8 signs that'll give you the clarity you need to know when it’s time to redesign your site so you can create trust, loyalty, and credibility with your ideal clients.
1. Your Content is Cluttered & Unorganized
I’ve been here!
You find yourself adding things and updating your website that now it feels cluttered.
The flow of your content tells the story of you and your brand, and if clients are confused, it could make or break their experience.
A good rule of thumb is to keep your site simple and consistent. This certainly doesn't mean all white and boring. It means intentionally placing text and images in a way that is easy to follow.
Clutter and confusion can create the perception that your business is untrustworthy or lacks attention to detail.
We’re constantly bombarded with images online, so let's create an organized layout that encourages your audience to stick around and get to know you. Visual appeal is all about organization.
Here are a few steps you can implement to declutter your website:
ADD MORE WHITE SPACE.
This is one of my favorite web design tips. Adding more space between content blocks allows the eye to slow down and focus. Adding this contrast creates the perception of expertise and professionalism, especially when paired with a targeted message and imagery. And white space doesn't have to be white - just negative space for the eye to breathe.
SIMPLE NAVIGATION.
Label each page with a simple title that explains that page's content. Try to avoid personalized titles for common pages such as the about and services pages. Our goal here is to reduce confusion and make it easy for our visitors to find what they're looking for.
2. Inconsistent Design and Branding
Each time your client interacts with you, your website and overall brand should provide a cohesive experience.
With a thorough understanding of your ideal client and who you're serving, the goal is to make sure that each part of your brand and design clearly communicates to that specific audience.
Does your website match your social media branding, email newsletter, and print collateral?
We connect with ideal clients through our brand's visual design elements, message and voice, and brand imagery, which must be consistent. A website redesign is a great chance to get back to the basic foundation of your branding.
Make sure you have a clear plan for each of the following:
A CLEAR LOGO OR FONT-BASED LOGOTYPES.
Your logo and its variations should be consistent throughout your website and branding. Make sure your main logo and any secondary logos or marks are easily recognizable on your site. Make sure any downloads or linked pages on your site also have your logo visible at first glance.
A CONSISTENT COLOR PALETTE.
Select 5 main colors. I recommend a dark color for text and dark design elements, a bold brand color, a neutral for design elements, a light neutral for backgrounds, and white. These colors should be the same across all of your touchpoints.
THREE EYE-CATCHING AND READABLE FONTS.
Be sure to have a header, a subtitle font, and a paragraph font. Be consistent with how and where you use each font. This provides visual cues and a recognizable cadence for your audience. The key here is to be consistent!
3. Slow Load Times
In our digital age, we have only a few seconds to capture the attention of our visitors.
As technology becomes quicker, visitors expect to view your site and content fast. And if your content isn’t loading, how long do you really expect them to wait?
A slow-loading website can drive your audience away without them having a chance to get to know you. This barrier can kill your conversion rates, damage your user experience, and reduce your chances of making a sale or connection.
In addition to hurting your conversions, Google penalizes websites with slow load times by reducing your search rankings. That alone should be motivation to redesign your website! Luckily, Google has a tool called Test My Site, that allows you to check your website load times. Any page load speed above 3 seconds is hurting your conversions.
According to a study done by Google and Deloitte,
“Improving your load time by 0.1s can boost conversion rates by 8%.”
That’s huge! So, how can we improve our load speed?
The best way to increase your page and site load times are to reduce the size of your images. Optimize your images by reducing the size to 500 KB or less. You can use online image compressors before loading your image to your site. This simple change can mean big rewards in the long run.
4. Your Site Isn’t Mobile-Friendly
Have you recently checked your website on your phone or mobile device lately? Is the text easy to read? Are there cluttered, overlapping elements? Are the buttons easy to click? Having a mobile-friendly website is a requirement for a quality customer experience. Gone are the days where you can create a beautiful webpage for desktop and laptop only!
When designing your website, it’s important that it’s designed for all devices, including desktop, laptop, tablet, and phones to name a few.
According to Google, 50% of web traffic comes from mobile devices. If your site isn’t optimized for mobile, half of your visitors could be getting a subpar experience which could tarnish your brand image.
This is one of the reasons why I recommend Squarespace web design. The platform automatically optimizes your site layout for mobile view from the beginning. This takes the guesswork out of making sure your content is easy to view across all mobile devices.
And just as having slow load times, Google also penalizes sites that aren't mobile-friendly by reducing your search rankings. Take time today to check your web pages and ensure they are just as enjoyable and engaging as they are on desktop or laptop.
5. Your Ideal Client Has Evolved
This is a good thing! This means you’ve grown and are ready to take your business to the next level. This is a great time to redefine your ideal client and be specific about who you want to work with.
Getting clear about your ideal client is your opportunity to talk to the people you truly want to serve. Get to know them, who they are, what they like, and what keeps them up at night. You'll gain their attention and trust when you know exactly what they need and how to serve them.
HOW TO REDEFINE YOUR IDEAL CLIENT
Start with the basics - their demographics. You want to cover a few starter points: their gender, age, income, immediate family situation, and location.
Once you’ve covered the basic demographic information, you’ll want to dig deeper to get to the heart of your ideal client. What’s their personality like? What do they love? What are their hobbies? Consider questions that speak to their personality.
Let’s dig deeper beyond the “what” and ask “why?”. Ask “why” to each of the questions above. Uncovering the “why” will lead us to their core values and the emotion behind their decisions. This is gold!
Once you have words and phrases that resonate with your audience’s pain and pleasure points, you can speak their language and capture their attention. Now you’re ready to redesign your site for your ideal client!
6. Your Brand Messaging Has Changed
As you grow, the messaging on your website may change.
What once resonated with your ideal audience may not hit the mark as it once did. The key to updating your brand messaging is understanding your ideal client, as we clarified above.
When you know your ideal client, the connection is made when your audience feels like you genuinely understand them.
Are you using words that resonate with your audience?
Are you speaking the language that will capture their attention?
What are their worries and struggles? What are they seeking support with?
Consider recording yourself talking about your brand and services. What words come up the most? Next, research your audience. What words do they use to describe their pain points and what they want?
Most importantly, you want your messaging to feel authentic. Your copy should sound and feel like you. You want to share your story and why you’re in business. Why do you offer your services, and what deeper purpose are you looking to fulfill? We can capture your ideal client by placing this visibly on your homepage and in any bio sections on your social media accounts.
7. Your Content and Customer Experience is Out of Date
Do your images and copy still serve your brand and messaging?
Let's take a look at your content.
It's essential to be intentional about what you're saying to your clients and the experience you want them to have. Redesigning your site is an opportunity to replace content and rework the customer journey to create a robust experience.
We can easily create sections and blocks that offer vignettes to a larger story while considering how each section flows together.
The easier it is for your client to understand who you are, what you do, and why you do it, the more they’ll want to get to know you, and the longer they'll stay. And, of course, we want them to stay, right? Yes! We want them to check out what you have to offer!
Here are a few steps you can take to update your content and customer journey:
MAP OUT YOUR STORY.
Review the layout of your content. What story do you want to tell? What information do you want to make sure the audience is clear about? Map out the flow of your content so that it's concise, cohesive, and tells your authentic story.
CREATE AN INTENTIONAL CLIENT EXPERIENCE.
Take a look at your story and how we can lead our audience to the desired destination. For example, does your homepage lead them to the services page and then on to a call to action? Guide your audience through an experience that encourages them to learn more about you and, ultimately, want to work with you.
DIRECT CALL TO ACTION.
This is your opportunity to affirm your expertise and guide your customer to take that next step. Whether it's booking a call, joining your email list, or learning more about your offer and services, be clear and direct with what they are to do next.
8. You’re Embarrassed By Your Current Website
And lastly, it’s time for a redesign if you’re embarrassed by your site! Maybe your industry has evolved and your site isn’t matching up with your competitors. It’s okay, but to maintain your expert coach or consultant status, you must ensure your website and brand are aligned with the service you provide. You deserve a site that showcases your brand to the highest level!
