A website is the face of the organization, so it is important to monitor the changing trends of web design. Project “wear” takes 2-4 years, depending on the topic, as Internet technologies are developing extremely fast. On a regular basis, the requirements are refinement of an outdated site, content, modules and many more.
10 Signs of an Outdated Website and How to Check Your Website Is Out Of Date
How to understand it is time to update.
A little earlier there was a need to have a mobile version of the project. Today the problem is solved by the introduction of an adaptive layout - the resource is correctly displayed on any devices. An important point is the structure, navigation menu and usability - the site for the visitor should be intuitive and interesting. Only in this case you can count on a competitive advantage. In this regard, we suggest discussing 10 main signs that the website is out of date.
1. Attendance reduction
The number of visitors has decreased - a sure sign of problems with the website. It is probably outdated for search engines, the audience looks less interested than before in comparison with other projects.
You count on the regular influx of new faces and the retention of old visitors - you need to update the site, online-store and blog timely. People see change, development, and they remain.
2. Lack of conversion
A decrease in the number of applications in relation to the number of visitors is a sign that competitors are on the alert and are improving their own projects. If the conversion sags for several months, you might want to look into a "tired" design, a rare update or lack of benefit from the resource as possible causes.
3. Adaptation for mobile devices
About half of the "inhabitants" of the Internet use smartphones or tablets to visit sites. These include personal blogs, online stores, corporate projects, landings and more.
In this regard, it is worth making the website equally convenient for viewing information, placing an order both from a computer and from smartphones.
By the way, by 2020, up to 80 percent of adults switched to using the mobile Internet and smartphones to search the Web.
4. Slow download speed
The rule of three seconds works here - if the contents of the desired page did not appear within this period, you can leave. That is what 99% of users will do. Moreover, visitors are highly unlikely to visit the site itself if they don’t see it in the search engine results.
To assess the download speed, you should use a tool from Google. You can also find recommendations for fixing problems there.
5. Navigation and structure
There is no place for the archaic! Several navigation menus, many irrelevant links, drop-down lists - this useless trash can cause harm! A website should definitely be the last possible place for such stuff!
The structure ought to be clear, with categories, subcategories, subsections. It is not a good idea to make more tabs, making it difficult for the site visitors to navigate.
6. Old content - relevance of information
We have to keep track of the relevance of the information. “Sunk” positions in search results are not always connected with design, they can also be caused by old content. Preference for bots will be given to a constantly updated page with unique, fresh content that is interesting to people. This applies to both updating old pages and adding new ones.
7. Complex URLs for site pages
Web pages are assigned to their own address — in Latin, by numbering, in English — they are called URLs.
It is important that URLs are understandable to humans and search robots. The latter algorithms, as practice shows, respond much better to clear page addresses. This is one of the many factors that rank a website in search.
8. Old design
The aesthetically outdated design from the early noughties, or even from the ‘90s is a curse for the site. Alas, many companies do not understand the value of their own corporate blocks and web resources. So, today on the Internet there are still projects hailing from the last decade, if not from last century.
9. Inconvenient functionality for ordering
Functionality is required to search for goods or services with the possibility of a subsequent order. Any modern resource is aimed at simplifying the life of the average buyer. It is necessary to minimize the number of required actions for the implementation of the service order, purchase of goods or payment.
10. Lack of corporate identity
Each company should have a corporate identity - this is the trademark of your business. The corporate identity displayed on the site will increase recognition and distinguish your site from competitors.
Brand awareness lies in details.
What to do to ensure that the site is not morally obsolete
Most project owners understand that the resource must be monitored on a regular basis. They update the web resource, add new features, modify the old ones - this process is eternal for blogs, online stores, corporate projects. BUT it is impossible to make something worthwhile out of a resource from the 00s or 90s, so you might want to consider ordering website development from scratch. A modern design will be drawn, the correct structure will be developed, and many other things essential for the project success will also be done.