We all know that for any business your website is really important. It serves as your virtual shop front and will hopefully persuade visitors to commit to whatever product or service that you are providing. So you spend time ensuring that you have correct and up to date information on there, and compelling content that will attract and engage people. And you put effort into analytics, SEO and PPC to get those visitors there in the first place.

It’s going well – and you’re doing all the right things. But something still doesn’t feel quite right.

Sometimes it’s simply time to change your website. Whilst there’s nothing actually wrong with it, it just doesn’t truly reflect your brand any more. It is not who you are.

Just as your home needs a refresh and a refurbish every now and again, so does your website. It’s not just a case of keeping up with current trends in website development: though this is important too. Using the home analogy you don’t really want to be the only home left with flowery wallpaper when everyone else in the world has plain neutrals. Or vice versa.

But changing your website is about far more than just staying on-trend. It is about ensuring that your website relates to the essence of your business. As your business changes, so must your website.

A complete website design is no small task. So to help you decide if now is the time, work through our 10 Step Website Reality Check below. It will help you to take an objective look at how well your website is working for you, or whether it is time to move things forward.

1. 1. 1. Is your website mobile-friendly? These days this is THE most important thing to consider. More and more of your visitors will be coming from mobile, so your website needs to be up to the job. For some time, Google has been ranking sites higher if they’re mobile friendly and have now also started to index sites based on their mobile version, not their desktop version. You can test the mobile-friendliness of your website by entering the URL here.
    
   1. 1. Does your website work well across all technology platforms? But don’t just cater for the mobile market: your website needs to work well on any device and any browser. Even if your website looks good on the surface, if it has been around for a while it is likely to be using outdated technologies, code, and standards which could have an adverse effect on elements such as site speed. You need to make sure that your website is as efficient as it can be in terms of modern web standards and practices. If it does not have that level of functionality it’s time to change.
    
   1. 1. Can you remember when you last redesigned your website? There is no one right answer as to how often you have to do this. Some websites may be 5 years old and still doing a sterling job, whilst others may have been recently redesigned but just don’t hit the spot. But if you can’t actually remember when you last did a redesign then perhaps it’s time you did?
    
   1. 1. Does your website look contemporary? Regardless of the business sector you are in, a website’s shelf-life is always relatively short. Technology move on fast and your website needs to keep pace. As we said earlier, you don’t need to follow the crowd in terms of web design but nor do you want to be the last business with an outdated website. If your website looks outdated it can leave an uncertain impression on the user, and they may well go elsewhere.
    
   1. 1. Is your website better than your competitors’? Keeping an eye on the competition is really important in every aspect of business. But also make it your business to watch the websites of your competitors. You don’t want to copy them but you do want to be better than them and making sure your website is ahead of the game is part of this.
    
   1. 1. Does your website reflect your current business goals? Users will see your website as a representation of your business, so it does need to reflect who you are. You need to think carefully about the goals you want your website to accomplish for you: for example to get leads or to showcase your work. Make your website work for you. You should also be able to update your website easily yourself so that you can ensure all your latest information and required content is on there. If your website design no longer reflects your business or is built upon a CMS (Content Management System) that is difficult to update yourself then perhaps it’s time for a change.
    
   1. 1. Is your website performing well and attracting visitors from your target market? Use Google Analytics and the array of other tools at your disposal to see how well your website is working for you. If it’s not doing its job in terms of traffic, engagement, UX and conversions then it needs to be replaced. It needs to effectively target your key audience so you need to think about who that audience is, conduct research about what will make your website work for them, and build it around that.
    
   1. 1. Do people compliment you on your website? Another good measure of how well your website is performing is whether you receive compliments about it. A lot of websites are much of a muchness: they contain all the basic information that is needed, but don’t really wow your visitors. If you have the wow factor then you will most probably be picking up compliments about your website. But if you don’t, then maybe it’s time to change.
    
   1. Are you proud to share your website with potential clients or employees? Leading on from the above, do you enjoy showing people your website or is there always that sinking feeling at the back of your mind. Whether that’s because you are struggling to keep it up to date or whether you are not happy with something fundamental about it is something that you need to analyse then do something about.
   2. Do you like looking at your website? Last but by no means least. One of the acid tests of how good your website is is whether you actually like it yourself. If you don’t, then why should anyone else? You could perhaps even argue that the very fact you are questioning whether it is time for your website to be redesigned probably means that it is.

We hope that our 10 Step Website Reality Check helps you to make an informed decision as to whether your website needs to be redesigned.
To see some examples of different website designs why not take a browse through our Case Studies page which highlights some of the companies that as a digital marketing agency we have helped to ensure that their website is doing its job.