Today, everything is online and easily accessible from your laptop or phone. Having a strong (and mobile responsive) online presence is crucial to the success of any business. Your website isn’t just a virtual storefront or online resource for your clients, it is often the very first impression that customers get of your business. An outdated website might not seem like a big problem, but it can harm your business in a multitude of ways. It can diminish your credibility, give the wrong impression to your clients and negatively impact your sales. An outdated website doesn’t keep up with new technology and can cause frustration when it doesn’t work properly. Worst of all, if your website isn’t up to date, mobile responsive or getting found in search engines, your prospects may just seek out your competitors, giving them an advantage over you.
Let’s explore the problems of having an outdated website and how it can negatively impact your business. There is good news, though! Once you understand how an outdated website is affecting your business, you can set goals towards improving your online presence and stay ahead in today’s competitive market.
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Your Outdated Website Gives Off the Wrong Impression
We’ve all seen examples of websites that don’t look legit, lack professionalism and ultimately send us looking for a better option. If your website looks like it hasn’t been updated in years, your clients and prospects may begin to make negative assumptions about the quality of your products and services. This negative impression diminishes your credibility in the eyes of prospective clients and could lead them to believe that your business isn’t legitimate.
It’s important to keep your website updated and in good working order. Pixellated photos, broken links, and lack of mobile responsiveness are all indicators that your website is in need of a refresh. Regular maintenance and updates need to be performed to keep your website looking fresh and in good working order to ensures that clients know you are open and ready for business.
Keeping your website updated and error-free helps to build trust and establish credibility with your prospects. That attention to detail makes you look more professional and demonstrates that you’re paying attention to the quality of your website, which in turn gives them the impression that your products and services will also be attended to with the same amount of care and quality.
You Miss Opportunities by Not Having a Mobile Responsive Website
Have you ever interacted with a website on your smartphone that wasn’t optimized for mobile? You have to zoom in to read it or keep hitting the wrong buttons because it isn’t mobile responsive. It is an infuriating experience that makes you want to move on and find a better website to interact with. Poor user experience from an outdated website will cause users to get frustrated, become disinterested and ultimately increase your website’s bounce rate (that’s when a user leaves your website).
An outdated, dinosaur of a website won’t be optimized for today’s smart phones, tablets and mobile devices, all of which change at lightning speed. Even website technology and search engine algorithms are constantly evolving to meet the demands of consumers on the go. Page load speeds and having a mobile responsive site are becoming key players in search engine results page rankings. If you haven’t updated or maintained your website in the past 3 years, it’s probably time to consider a refresh. Many online shoppers are using their phones to make purchases, which means if your website isn’t mobile responsive, you’re missing opportunities!
Your Outdated Content is Confusing and Decreases Conversions
Your website isn’t “set it and forget it” and often times content goes unattended for years and gets stale. Additionally, if significant details about your products or services are so outdated it becomes inaccurate, you run the risk of frustrating your prospect and ultimately losing the sale. Your website is an online repository of important information about your business, your services and your brand. Clients and prospects use your website to learn more about your business, connect with your brand and make the decision to do business with you (or with your competition!)
If the content on your website isn’t accurate, relevant and engaging, you will miss vital opportunities to convert a prospect into a client.
Regularly taking the time to audit your website’s content is a great way to help keep your website fresh. Make sure all of your content is relevant, delete outdated blog posts, old products you don’t offer anymore or outdated information. Be sure to keep team member bios, about content and product descriptions up-to-date as well.
Keeping your website’s content current is imperative to making the sale, connecting with the right clients and strengthening your online presence.
Outdated SEO Practices Hurts Your Search Engine Rankings
Search engine’s are continuously updating their algorithms and improving their website crawls to keep the most relevant and modern websites in top search engine or Google rankings. If your website is outdated, not mobile responsive and follows old SEO practices, it could be negatively impacting where your website appears in search rankings. Your outdated website won’t be making an appearance among the top search engine results pages (SERPs) but your competitor’s modern website just might be.
Google, as well as other search engines, prioritize websites with fresh content, responsive designs and user-friendly interfaces. Using outdated search engine optimization (SEO) practices and having slow page load speeds will result in your website getting passed over for a more modern one.
Regularly conducting keyword research, keeping your website information current and relevant to the user and creating a fast and intuitive online user experience will not only help you stay top-of-mind with your clients, but it aids in improve your search engine ranking.
Your Outdated Website Gives Your Competitors an Advantage
We touched on how an outdated website has the potential to give the wrong impression about your business, your products and your services, but it gets worse. Having an outdated website can make your competitors look better by comparison. Customers often get their first impression of a business from a website, they look for information that builds credibility, establishes trust and resonates with their needs. If your website is outdated, it can work against you. An outdated website may use obsolete technology, look ‘dingy’ and be difficult to navigate. When users are faced with even the slightest frustrations on a website, they often leave. Having a high bounce rate leads to lower conversions and hurts your business. This gives your competitors a huge advantage.
Even if a business has been established in a community for a long time, has a brick-and-mortar storefront or is the “only” solution to a particular problem, that you don’t need to worry about your website, but with the growing number of consumers using smart phones and technology to find online solutions, competition is steep, even for local businesses.
If your competitors website is polished, mobile responsive and includes the latest technology or design trends, customers will notice the difference. In most cases, a clients will choose your competitor over you if your website is outdated, because their modern, beautifully designed and highly functional site sends all the right messages to prospective clients and is much easier to interact with.
Old Website Technology is Making Your Business Less Efficient
Website functionality has evolved significantly over the last 10 years. Gone are the days where your website was a simple landing page that offered a list of services and a phone number. A modern website can automate your sales process, streamline marketing, provide invaluable resources for your clients and build a community around your brand.
An outdated website offers very little to your customer, isn’t engaging and worst of all, kills your efficiency. If your website only offers a phone number, and no way to connect or purchase online, you’re putting a majority of the responsibility on the user to get in touch with you by picking up their phone, making a call and having a conversation. By incorporating modern technologies into your website, you can streamline operations and automate processes that might otherwise be manual or take lots of time. There are fantastic tools that allow customers to easily purchase products, register for events, take surveys, share information, send a message, live chat to get questions answered, watch a webinar and more! And each of those tools can be set up to help automate part of your processes and gather invaluable data that will inform marketing decisions and help you grow your business.
Update your Website to Increase Sales, Automate Processes & Improve Marketing
Building a new website can seem overwhelming and expensive, but the benefits far outweigh the consequences. By refreshing your website you’re reinvigorating your business and engaging customers on a whole new level. A new website is easier to maintain and update, too!
By working with a trusted website development company, you can customize your new website to fit your needs, goals and budget. A new website can incorporate helpful tools to streamline your sales process or automate your marketing efforts saving you valuable time, money and frustration. It can build brand awareness and attract the right clients who love your products and tell all their friends.
A new website for your business means new ways to grow. So, why struggle with an outdated website and do it the old-fashioned way? Save yourself time and money by implementing valuable technology and tools on your website!
Pursu would love to partner with you to create a custom WordPress website that attracts more clients and drives sales. Get in touch with us to learn how a new website can help your business thrive!
So now what? Let's set some serious goals to help you succeed!
Companies should regularly evaluate their digital presence: updating where necessary so that they remain competitive while showing pride considering the careful investment made towards building a loyal customer base. Invest in a modern website today to ensure your business stays competitive and reflects positively upon your brand!
