With technology moving so fast, it is often hard to know if and when your website has become outdated. The cost of developing a website can obviously be considerable, especially if you are looking to leverage the latest technologies. But often, the ROI point can be difficult to estimate, and without biting the bullet there are a few things to think about before taking the plunge and ditching your old website for a new one.
How Does It Look
One of the key factors or keeping people on your website, and engaging with them, is visually how your site looks. Does it look modern, does it clearly present information to them. Is the information easy to read, are the graphics conforming with the standards people are familiar with? If you website was built 10 years ago, and it looks like it was built ten years ago, you likely need to consider a re-design.
How Does It Perform
Are you monitoring how users are interacting with your website? What pages are they viewing, and what pages are they landing on, as well as exiting the site from. Without using a tool such as Google analytics it is unlikely you can make an informed decision about how your website is performing. In an ideal world you should know your monthly visitor numbers, and how many of those visitors are converting into sales/leads. This figure is known as your conversion rate, and the aim of any redevelopment would be to improve your conversion rate. Armed with this information you can easily estimate how long a new site would take to pay for itself if it improves your conversion rate.
Browser Standards
Modern web browsers are far more capable than they were 10 years ago. Mobiles and tablets have very much changed the industry, and have resulted in users having a level of expectation about how a website should perform when they view it mobile. If you know how many people are visiting your sites from mobile devices, this should give you an idea about if moving to a modern responsive website is worthwhile. Remember, around 50% of users are now viewing sites on mobile devices, rather than desktops and laptops.
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Make A Decision
Often a website can be improved or fixed with a small amount of development work, and it can still improve your conversion rate. However, if the work is going to be on-going and extensive it may be worth considering a redevelopment from the ground up. Many users want to know how long a new website should last; this is a very difficult question to answer. However, responsive websites are built to perform on all screen sizes, and as such it is important that if you are going for a new website, should seriously consider a budget which allows for your website to be responsive.
We hope the above is of use to your and your business in making a decision about a new website. Good luck!