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How do I know if my website needs a redesign?

Has your website been updated recently?

With the ever-growing technologies, mobile platforms and social networks, a company’s website is an essential communication and visibility tool. But for optimal results, it must be kept up to date.

How to determine if it is well maintained, or if your site needs a redesign? In general, if you’re asking the question, a redesign is necessary, but let’s go through these elements, just to make sure.

Your website should:

  • Reflect your brand and your needs
  • Use modern web tools
  • Display a design and content adapted to different screen resolutions
  • Provide an optimal user experience
  • Have a good ranking on Google
  • Showcase your communications (newsletter, blog, social networks)

refonte site web

Does your website reflect your needs?

Like your company, your digital needs change. Have your objectives changed since the last redesign or since you put it online? Does your digital platform offer the right level of flexibility?

It is important to identify the type of site that your company needs.

Business Showcase Website

Your website is only intended to be informational, to share your achievements, your services, your team, etc.

Your website should allow potential customers to easily find your services. Websites that receive the most visitors follow general web design trends. Their user experience is constantly reviewed and optimized.

Transactional Website

The purpose of your website is to offer online purchases of your products and/or services.

Depending on the type of services your business offers, you might want to integrate an online store so users can find and purchase your products directly online.

On average during each month of 2015, one third (32.2%) of Quebec adults bought online (available 24/7, various secure payment methods and reduced advertising and operational costs). E-commerce options shouldn’t be overlooked. It would allow your website to become a major asset in the success of your business.

Static Website

Your content is static. When creating the site, you provided the content. Since then you have not touched it or have had to ask the developer to make changes himself.

A few years ago you chose a static showcase site, i.e. a site whose content is directly integrated in the pages or template to represent your online presence, but you have since realized that the content you want to communicate has grown and you have little flexibility for updating. If your website can hardly be edited, it’s probably not based on a CMS.

Editable Website

Your content is evolving. Sometimes you have new products or services to offer, or new items to post on your blog.

You could be able to edit the content of your website in a simple way through a CMS (Content Management System). Many solutions are now available depending on the amount of information to be included on your site, such as WordPress or Drupal. MultipleMedia provides training to manage your CMS and easily integrate your content.

Newsletter Subscription

Adding an option to subscribe to your newsletter can also be an asset to your website. You could offer your users a quick way to keep up to date on your new projects and services, while redirecting them to your website in each e-blast. Today, it is possible to develop a newsletter template perfectly adapted to each screen resolution.

Discover 5 tips for successful email campaigns.

Social Networks

Is your brand on social networks? This communication channel allows you to reach your future customers or partners in a different way. Social networks also represent great windows to your website and vice versa. Adding sharing features on your website can be a quick and effective way to advertise your services or products.

Is Your Website on Search Engines?

The number 1 goal of a website is to give your brand an online presence. If users are not able to find it correctly on Google, we must review the strategy. This is where SEO comes in.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a set of techniques to improve online visibility, including in search engine results. These SEO techniques should be applied to your site if you do not want to suffer from a bad ranking.

Google constantly updates its tracking and traffic analysis tools. It is essential to ensure that your website incorporates them.

With tools like Google Analytics, you can easily identify the number of users who land on your home page, which actions they carry out (searches, clicks, completed forms, etc.) or when they leave.

Check out Google’s latest updates.

refonte site web

Does Your Website Use Modern Technologies?

Responsive

Today, the use of mobile in web browsing is constantly growing, hence the need to have a responsive website designed primarily for those devices. According to Cefrio, mobile devices were used by 28.5% of Quebec adults to shop online and by 23.2% for shopping in stores, and to compare advertised prices.

The term “responsive” is an English diminutive of “responsive web design”, a concept whereby a design gives a response, that is to say content that adjusts to the size of the screen, allowing visual ease while providing ergonomics adapted to the type of media used.

Google has indicated that non-responsive websites, hence not compatible with smartphones or tablets, would be penalized in terms of their ranking on search engines.

If your website is not responsive, it’s more than time to redesign!

Design

Visual appearance is still a major element of your website, which is part of your branding. The design must also enhance the user experience.

The home page of your website should get the most attention as it is the gateway to your content. With intuitive navigation, it plays the role of redirecting the user to the key content.

Beware of Outdated Technologies

If your website uses Flash technology, for example, it has not worked on Apple platforms (iPhone, iPad) since 2010. This technology is already considered obsolete, and sites that use it are badly referenced by Google.

Technology changes so fast. Despite good maintenance, an overhaul is sometimes inevitable, hence the importance of a good digital partner.

A website redesign is often necessary after a few years but it should not be limited to visuals. Design is an important step in the overhaul, but it is only one step. While SEO is a priority to good visibility, the technologies must meet the current standards, enhancing the lifespan of your site. Finally, do not neglect the maintenance of your content and the mobility of your platform.

Still not convinced? Let us take a look.

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