Whether you’re a small business, large corporation or just an individual that has a following, building a stunning website is arguably one of the most important tasks that you should be handling. Unfortunately, most of us don’t truly understand what makes a good website. Some people consider great design to be a factor while others are more concerned with functionality. Others would even go as far to use black hat search engine optimization to get on the front page of a Google search, ignoring the potential risks of being blacklisted.
So how should we define what a good website is? How do we know if our website isn’t cutting it anymore and what should we do about it? In this article, we’ll be answering those questions by showing you ten reasons why your website might be struggling to catch viewers and convince them to return.
1. Your design looks outdated
An outdated design is usually one of the easiest things to fix with your website. By hiring a website designer or switching to a more intuitive website editor, you can update the look and feel of your website to be more modern. Just be careful not to overdo it and to retain all of the information and functionality of your current website.
2. Your website doesn’t work well on mobile devices
With more and more people accessing the web on their phones, it’s become increasingly important to make your website compatible with mobile devices. This can be tablets, smartphones or even smaller laptop computers. This is achieved through adaptive design which can take a long time to achieve, especially if you’re not well-versed in web design.
3. You aren’t optimizing your website for search engines
Search engine optimization, or SEO for short, is a strategy that will help you appear higher on search results. It involves using more important keywords and also increasing the reputation of your website by providing good content. SEO can get incredibly technically but there are plenty of optimization services available. These companies will help you manage many aspects of your SEO to help you rank higher.
4. Your website host is old and keeps going down
If you have a terrible website host then it’s vital that you switch to a more reliable one. Old websites hosted by old services might encounter issues due to the web host being outdated or simply neglecting your website. Switching to a newer web host should fix this, especially if the current one you’re using has a poor reputation.
5. Your site isn’t secure anymore
Whether it’s renewing your security certificate or providing more secure log-in methods, it’s a good idea to add more security to your website to give users peace of mind. It’s wise to plug all the common website security gaps so that your audience isn’t afraid to use your website and submit their personal information when needed.
6. Your website content is outdated
Unless you’re the one doing the copywriting for your website, there’s a good chance that your website content might just be outdated and in need of a refresh. This is usually the case for any websites that need to have up-to-date content, such as the latest news or product updates. If you’re struggling, then you may want to consider hiring a copywriter to help you produce more interesting and valuable content for your visitors. Without content updates, your site is going to be forgotten.
7. Your site has become clogged and navigation is difficult
As websites get older, their navigation starts to get more clunky and difficult to deal with. The more pages and services you add, the harder it can be for your visitors to find what they need. In a case like this, it’s a good idea to audit your website and perform a deep crawl. This can help you find any dead or broken links. You should also consider reorganizing your navigation to make it easier to use.
8. You don’t have any social media sharing widgets on your content
If you have excellent content on your website you need to ensure that others have the chance to share it with their friends, colleagues and family members. Make sure you add sharing widgets to make it easier to spread your content around.
9. Your website is failing on the technical side
There are a couple of technical things that your website has to deal with in order to enhance the user experience. Here are a couple of examples:
- Your images might be too large. If that’s the case, make sure you optimize your images such as converting them to a PNG format.
- Your adaptive design might not be working, meaning that your website displays weirdly on certain devices.
- You’re using outdated technologies such as Adobe Flash to deliver content.
- Some of your website features aren’t working correctly due to them being badly coded or simply outdated.
There are lots of technical issues that could be affecting the success of your website, so it’s a good idea to check these and deal with the problems as soon as possible.
10. Your visitors don’t find your website to be valuable
Lastly, you need to make sure that your website is providing at least some value to your visitors. If your content doesn’t interest them anymore or if there’s nothing for your customers to buy, then your website isn’t going to be too useful. It’s absolutely vital that you provide at least something for your audience or else it will fade away into obscurity.
Websites tend to be incredibly difficult to manage and grow. This is usually something that a skilled web designer can help you overcome, but that’s usually an expensive investment that not all of us can afford. So if you’re looking for some simple ways to bring your website back into the limelight, we hope that these tips have helped you out.