6 signs your website site is becoming an OAP…

If you are a business owner in 2018 then it’s pretty safe to say that you already have a website to help you promote, communicate and manage your business.

A smart, professional and well-designed website can have a huge impact on the success of your business – but how do you know when it’s time to update yours?

Well, here are 6 tell-tale signs that it might be time for you to upgrade and get your website working harder for you.

Do any of these sound familiar?

1. Your site looks outdated

Yes, it’s true, we should never judge a book by its cover, but sometimes looks really do matter. And, whilst it’s important that your website functions as efficiently as possible, it also needs to look up-to date in the current digital era.

This includes ensuring a slick and modern design that is appealing and inviting for users to navigate – so, If your website looks like it belongs in a bygone digital age, then it might be time to think about a re-fresh.

2. Your URL makes you cringe

If you are embarrassed to give out your URL to customers and contacts then this is a sure sign that it’s time to update your site.

Your website is the digital face of your company and you should be proud to direct people to it at any given opportunity, not shy away from the long and ugly URL that you feel stuck with – and won’t fit on your flash-looking business cards.

3. Your site is not responsive

What does responsive mean you ask? Well, if you don’t know…then you really should, because over 50% of all website traffic comes from mobile devices.

So, if your site isn’t mobile friendly, or is designed as a separate mobile site rather than as a fully responsive website, then your business will be suffering as a result. Google now bases its rankings on mobile rather than desktop versions of a website, so the longer you leave your outdated model online for, the lower you could drop in those all-important rankings.

4. Your site is an OAP

Ok, I know we live in an ageist society, but if you think humans treat the older population with disdain then count your lucky stars that you’re not a website. Because, if your site is more than 5 years old there’s a good chance that it is deemed as being digitally ‘over-the-hill’, cruel right?

While there’s no set rule of how long a website should last for, the digital landscape moves so incredibly quickly that there has been an overwhelming amount of advances in technology, best practices and how Google ranks your site in the last few years alone. Therefore, it is imperative to keep a check on how old your site is and whether it could do with a digital overhaul.

If you don’t, then you could end up with a site that is more Dick Van Dyke than Chris Hemsworth in the desirability stakes…

5. Your competitors have shiny new websites

Look, we’re not ones to say blindly follow the crowd, because where’s the creativity and fun in that? But, if your competitors have websites that look and work better than yours does, then it is fair to say that this is already putting your business at a disadvantage.

Just by updating your website to a more professional looking design, and an easier user experience, you could automatically propel your business to the front of the pack – you know that that’s where you deserve to be, so make sure that your website isn’t cramping your effortlessly cool style, ok?

6. You find it impossible to make changes

As you’ll already know by now, the digital world moves fast, which is why it is important that you are able to frequently update your website with blog posts, event information and product descriptions, maybe even moody and mysterious headshots of yourself and your kick-ass team? No judgement here, we love a black and white head-shot…

However, if your site was built before Justin Bieber could legally drink alcohol, or is built on a platform that is difficult for a non tech-genius to update, then this could be causing you undue stress, extra cost implications and be wasting you precious time.

When considering a new website, having one that is built on an easy-to-use content management system (CMS) can alleviate the need for any third party input for small updates and enable you to grow your business more easily and efficiently without the extra fuss.

Not sure which CMS system is right for you? our web design team are happy to chat to you, just drop them a line here.

So, if any of the above does sound familiar, but you’re unsure as to what your next steps should be, or what exactly is involved in updating your website, simply drop us a line today and we’d be happy to chat to you about it.

We have a very friendly, vibrant team here at Pistachio, across both of our Marlow and Nottingham based offices, who have over 15 years’ experience of making sure that our clients websites are leading the pack in terms of design, usability and most importantly of all, creativity.

What are you waiting for? Drop us a line today!