3 Reasons to Upgrade Your Website This Year
Do you remember that feeling you got when you just started a new business, project or venture? It’s kind of like falling in love.
You’re infatuated, obsessed and intoxicated by all the possibilities in the future. You want to do all the things, work on it all the time and you can’t stop the flood of ideas pouring in. Anything can happen but you’re focused on the awesome things that could happen.
I’ve felt the highs and lows of entrepreneurship as a new business owner. Ranging from lots of excitement to anxiety it’s been a wild, new journey.
Photo by Joel Muniz on Unsplash
If you want the best for your business this year here are 3 reasons upgrading your website can help you reach those big business goals.
Your Site Feels Outdated
The difference between the way your site looks right after you create it vs how it looks now will usually be different. Even more so if you went the DIY route which I recommend for all beginning or pivoting business owners.
This is why the Wayback machine exists. Use this resource if you want to see how far web design has progressed for big brands and other notable people online.
Design elements that looked really cool at the time might feel outdated now. This could be because they were based on trends at the time and not what your audience responds to. If you’re really lucky you might only need to tweak a few things instead of doing a full redesign.
You want your site to reflect you but more importantly you want it to attract your ideal clients and audience. If your website doesn’t feel like it fits your current offers, level of growth or you want to upgrade to something better it’s time to update your website and branding.
Your Site Isn’t Converting
You can measure your conversion rate by how many people are visiting your website by how many people are clicking or signing up for one of your offers like a consult call or free download. Squarespace makes this really easy to check in the Analytics section of your account.
If you have plenty of traffic coming into your website without many conversions a few things might be causing this. One is the people coming to your website are expecting something different. When your site doesn’t deliver they are disappointed and leave quickly aka your bounce rate.
Have you landed on a site, were super ready to buy or take action but couldn’t figure out what it was? Depending on how determined you were it could have taken seconds to minutes before you gave up because the information either wasn’t there or hidden from you.
This might seem obvious but if you have an offer or next step you want people to take make sure it is easy to find and available to your site visitors. This keeps people from getting confused and frustrated.
This is one way to make sure your website is strategic and not just pretty pictures. Nothing wrong with having good photos though!
Your Site Doesn’t Stand Out
Have you looked through several websites in the same industry or niche and noticed they all start to look the same? This happens all the time especially in competitive niches like the wedding photography industry.
This usually goes beyond just following design trends. People in the same industry like to take inspiration from other successful websites from their competitors. Then they redesign or tweak their site to look similar to the competition.
When you copy or get inspired by other sites in your industry you are in essence watering down your brand. Why would someone choose you over a competitor if your websites are similar? The easiest way to stand out online is through your unique branding and design.
Even in the same industry or niche there will be differences between you and other business owners. Leaning into your differences is what makes you unforgettable.
Having a consistent brand across your online presence from your website, social media, other media and packaging helps people remember you and choose you over your competitors.
Those are the 3 reasons to upgrade your website and branding this year or anytime. If you’re in growth mode, need to have your website better represent you and are ready to upgrade your website check out my VIP days and full branding and site redesign packages.
