Deciding to upgrade your website can be a difficult decision to make. We become emotionally attached to stuff we’ve had for a long time, remember how difficult it was to ditch that old humongous tube TV? Not just because it weighed as much as a baby elephant but because it was going to be replaced by a flimsy looking thing (that cost as much as a baby elephant) called a “plasma”.

You knew it was time for an upgrade, there were plenty of signs. The built-in VHS slot was no longer getting used, the picture was slightly grey and if you got too close to the screen the static that it generated would make your hair stand on end.

You bought your brand new plasma and life instantly became more colourful.
Here are the 6 Signs it’s Time for a New Website:

1. HTTP

If you only take one thing away from this blog then take this, since July 2018 (yep, one month ago) Google started to label all HTTP sites as “Not Secure” in the search bar. The new standard is HTTPS.

Not sure if your site is HTTPS? Thankfully, this is really easy to check.

Go to your website. At the top left hand corner of the URL fields you will either see a black “http://” or a green “https://”. If you’re still using http:// then a “Not Secure” text box will eventually display to its left (if it hasn’t already).

Not only will “Not Secure” feature next to your URL (visible for all to see) but it will also be accompanied by a nice big red warning triangle.

Google aren’t going to make this subtle at all.

Imagine you’re a customer. You land on the e-commerce website and you immediately notice a nice big red “Not Secure” sign in the URL.

It doesn’t really matter how good the products are, would you enter your credit card details to make a purchase? That’s a hard no.

2. Your Website Looks Rubbish on a Smaller Screen

A major sign that your website is in need of an upgrade is whether or not it is mobile optimised.

Mobile optimisation is extremely important. All “mobile optimised” means is that your website is built to look great on smaller screens like smartphones and tablets.

Businesses will HAVE TO make their website mobile optimised in order to rank highly as Google is moving closer to prioritising mobile-friendly content.
And this is why:

• 80% of internet users own a smartphone and, in 2016, mobile traffic outpaced desktop
• 452m users purchased goods and services on mobile devices in 2014, this figure is set to reach a staggering 2.07 billion users in 2019

If you’re trying to increase your visibility you have to understand that it is highly likely your audience are searching for you on their smartphone, tablet or other mobile device.

We’ve all been there, we’ve landed on a website via our phones only to be confronted by what seems like a miniature version of the desktop website. All the buttons are too small to click on, the copy is too small to read and the images are all out of whack.

That’s an example of a website that isn’t mobile friendly and, thanks to Google, those mobile-unfriendly sites will be a thing of the past.

3. Low Quality or Dated Images

When it comes to your website’s appeal, images play an extremely important role. Stunning imagery is key in encouraging a resistant consumer base to buy products that they can’t try or touch.

If you sell ANYTHING do not underestimate the power of high resolution images.

Beautiful images that are optimised for the web look great but most importantly load quickly. Google promotes websites that are fast to load and often the easiest way to increase your loading speed is by reducing image sizes.

Images should also be “alt tagged”. This is a short description of the image and tells search engines what the picture is about.

4. Poor Design

If your website sports a not-so-beautiful lime green colour scheme, loud and obnoxious “Word Art” style banners or any one of these fonts: Jokerman, Comic Sans, Papyrus, or Times New Roman, then it’s time for a website redesign ASAP.

Nothing puts people off more than a website that looks like it’s straight from the late 90s. Customers expect your website to be beautiful, easy to navigate and uncluttered.

5. Difficult for Customers to Pay

If your site requires people to pay via a PayPal button or if they have to email you for a price, you could be losing out on lost sales.

People want to be able to buy products with ease — anything that detracts from that is a nuisance.

E-commerce has revolutionised the way we live life and do business. More and more people are shopping online. E-commerce sales reached $2.3 trillion worldwide last year which is a 24.8% increase over the previous year — it’s a trend that is showing no signs of stopping.

So make it easy for your customers to buy your products or services.

Invest in a safe and secure online payment system like eWay or Payment Express so your customers can use their credit/debit cards to buy your goods.

If you provide a service and quote your clients on a case-by-case basis then have a clear pricing structure in place and make the process more transparent.

6. No Direct Call to Action

A call to action (C2A) is a clear goal that you want your customers to complete. These actions could be anything from clicking on a link, purchasing a product, filling out a form or downloading a document.

It’s no longer enough to just have a website to prove that your business is real — they need to be functional.

If you’re an online business then you should bear in mind that your website is your shop front.

You should also note that 93% of all buying decisions start with an online search.

If your website is looking tired, outdated, or is slow to load, you will be losing customers.

If the signs are all there that you should upgrade your website, all that is left now is to do it.

At Quentosity we are a website design agency based in Tauranga. We build beautiful, functional and powerful websites for businesses around New Zealand.

We have the experience and expertise to showcase your company in the digital age and increase your profitability through our digital marketing techniques.

Whether you are based in Auckland, Tauranga, Hamilton, Christchurch or anywhere else in New Zealand, we are the digital marketing agency that can take your business to the next level.

If you’re ready to upgrade your website drop us an email or call us on 0800 467 8932 to arrange a casual coffee and a chat at our beachside Papamoa office.