In 2023, if you don’t have a responsive and modern website for your brand, you might as well close your brand for good. A professional website is no longer a matter of choice but a necessity. However, designing a professional website does not mean that you can rest easy. Instead, you will need to keep updating it to reflect the latest trends. Otherwise, your brand will become outdated. Before we discuss why your website may require a redesign, let us quickly review the top reasons to have a professional website for your brand.

Importance of a Professional Website

1.  Consumers Expect a Robust Online Presence

We are living in the digital age. Customers are likely to browse your website and your competitors when researching a product or service. If you don’t have a website or it has a poor design, they will not hesitate to tap/click the ‘X’ button and move towards another website.

2.  Increase Your Reach

Suppose you have a clothing shop in city A. You cannot expect people from other cities to visit your shop this far out. After all, they will have numerous options in their city. However, with an engaging eCommerce store, you can showcase all your products to potential customers outside your city. They can then simply order the product from the website without coming to city A.

3.  Open 24/7

If you keep your clothing shop open 24/7, your operating expenses will go through the roof. Think about the salaries and utility payments. An eCommerce store is a much better alternative. Once set up, there are very few maintenance costs. A customer can browse your shop at 3 am and purchase any product. All this without any physical presence.

4.  24/7 Customer Support

If your customer is experiencing a problem with the product or service, you can use a chatbot to resolve their issues instantly and at any time. You can even hire a remote worker for the customer support job. There is no need for them to be physically present at the shop, which can help reduce expenses. Whenever a customer requires help, the remote worker will be available to help.

5.  Consumer Behaviour

Over the years, consumer behaviour has been changing. Their buying journey starts online, even if they plan to buy a product offline. Without a robust online presence, they will have no way of knowing about your product or service. It means that they will not even consider your brand as an option.

6.  Information Exchange

Another reason to have a professional website is that it helps in information exchange. As a business, would you prefer customers to email or call you to ask for information? The most likely answer is no because it wastes your employees’ time. You would rather have them work on value-addition tasks. A website allows you to display information or share business updates with your target market efficiently and cost-effectively. All customers need to do is visit the website to access the relevant information.

7.  Portfolio

If you are a freelancer or a business offering services such as eCommerce development, you can use the website to display your portfolio.

Reasons To Redesign Your Website

1.  It Looks Outdated

Even if you are not a web design professional, you will feel that some websites were designed ages ago. Several ways can help assess whether the design is contemporary or old. The easiest is to check for mobile responsiveness. The design is outdated if a website does not load correctly on a mobile or tablet. The font size and style are other signs you should keep an eye on. As a website owner, compare your website against your competitors. It will help assess if your website is up to the industry requirements. If it is not possible, visitor surveys can prove beneficial.

2.  Bounce Rate

If your bounce rate is quite high, it indicates that the content and overall web design are poor. You can check the bounce rate through Google Analytics.

3.  Sales are Low

If your profitability is tanking continuously and you are confident there is nothing wrong with the product or service, then it is time to focus on the website. It could be that due to poor navigation, the user is unable to access the relevant information. Another possibility is that the user is not following the path you laid down for them for a successful conversion.

4.  Low Traffic

A decrease in website traffic is another sign that your website is no longer a top choice for your visitors. It is time to focus on its redesign to ensure it remains relevant.

5.  Errors and Bugs

If you notice that the number of errors or bugs is high and hampering the user experience, call in an expert web design company to help with the redesign.

6.  Loading Time

Most website owners still do not know that the website’s loading time is a critical ranking factor. Your web design influences the loading time. Therefore, make a minimalist yet engaging design to improve loading times and increase organic traffic.

7.  Complaints

If your customers or visitors frequently complain about errors and poor user experience, it is time to listen to them and start focusing on the redesign. You should check your social media or product review pages for complaints and suggestions.

8.  Does Not Reflect Your Strategy

Sometimes, your website may no longer reflect your business or marketing strategy. For example, if you cannot effectively market your new service or product on the website, there is no point in keeping the website. Instead, focus on its revamp.

9.  Features Do Not Work

If website features don’t work or keep crashing for one reason or another, it shows poor development. In such a situation, you will need to redesign the website.

Related reading: Importance of Website Maintenance and Updates

Conclusion

We can come up with countless more reasons to convince you why your website needs a redesign. If you start neglecting your website, your customers will do the same. We highly recommend engaging a web design company to help redesign the website. As they have completed numerous projects for different clients, they know better about the latest trends and customer expectations.