Heather Steele August 17, 2021 1. You Have No Idea How to Update Your Website
You don’t even know who to call to update the website. Your content is outdated and inaccurate, but you have no idea how to fix it
2. Your Website Uses Flash or Text Inside of Images
No. Just no.
3. It’s one page
One-page design was cool for a while, and it works ok as a placeholder while you build a real site – but people want more information than just a landing page. They want to dig into your offerings, your portfolio and testimonials, they want to read enough content to be convinced you’re the solution to their problems.
While Madonna needs no further explanation (or even a last name) you and your business do. You need a new website.
4. It’s full of slideshows
No one wants to watch your slideshow. You’re not Don Draper and this isn’t the most perfect pitch for Kodak. Stop it.
It’s time to redesign your site and make your content easy to read without needing to scroll through a slideshow.
5. Autoplaying Music
This ain’t Myspace my friend. Take that music somewhere else because it absolutely does not belong on your website. If you or your designer thought this was a great idea, then we already know the whole site needs an overhaul.
6. Autoplaying Videos with Sound
See Autoplaying Music.
7. There’s No Consistency
The fonts, the colors, the voice, the tense – it’s all different on every page and in every section. This screams to your audience “run away, run away fast!”
If your website doesn’t show consistency in design and content, you’ll actually make people distrust you. Let’s redesign that site and make it a masterpiece of order and a happy place for your future customers to learn more about you.
8. It’s Just Ugly
Let’s face it, an ugly website will make your site visitors question the quality of your products and services. While we will scream from the mountain tops that content is the most important part of your website, the design does matter too. An ugly website just isn’t going to work as well for you as a well-designed one.
9. The Text Blinks, Slides, Spins, or Scrolls
If your content is busy dancing around the screen, no one is going to want to actually read it. I know it was cool a couple decades ago, but it’s time to stop with the animated text and let people actually, you know, read it.
10. It Doesn’t Follow Normal Website Layout Rules
I know, I know. You wanted to be original, you wanted to give people a different experience, you wanted to show off your creative side….
But changing the basic structure of what people expect from a website won’t win you any new business. There’s a reason the menu is at the top right of most websites. There’s a reason the logo is in the left corner and clicking that logo always takes you back to the home page. There’s a reason that most effective websites follow a fairly predictable pattern for content layout and organization.
You want visitors to be able to navigate your website without introducing unnecessary confusion (disguised as creativity). If your website doesn’t function like 99% of the websites in the world, it’s time to get a new website.
11. There’s No Easy Way to Contact You
If your website only offers a phone number for people to call, I can guarantee you are losing business. Your website should include contact forms to make it super easy for even the most introverted prospect to reach you.
If you’re expecting people to pick up the phone and call you with their questions or to buy, then you need a new website that makes it easier for your visitors.
12. You Don’t Even Know What’s On Your Website
If you don’t know what’s on your website right now, then it is definitely time to redesign. Or, you know, at least run through this 15-minute checklist.
13. Your Website Doesn’t Look Great on Mobile
We are past the time when just being mostly mobile-friendly was enough. Your website needs to look GREAT on every popular mobile device. If it doesn’t, it’s time to redesign, my friend.
14. There’s No Call to Action
If your website doesn’t clearly tell people exactly what they need to do to buy from you, then your website needs an overhaul, like, (August 26, 2021). Without clear calls to action people won’t know what the heck to do next. And your website will just sit there and never make you any money.
15. You Haven’t Updated Your Website in a Few Years
Technology changes with lightning speed. Your website visitors’ expectations change even faster. If you’re rocking a website design from 2015, it’s time to redesign that baby.
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