How Do You Know Your Website Is Out Of Date Or Not?

There are some websites that do an excellent job of staying current and up-to-date. Sure, people may moan when they realise that a site has had a redesign and they aren’t used to the navigation, but they shortly get used to it and then actually forget what it looked like before. A good example of this is the BBC news website, which undergoes regular design refreshes. In fact, you can still view old articles under the historic look and feel, which really shows you how much things have moved on!

If your company has a website, or you have one for personal use, you may want to take a step back and view it from a visitor’s point of view. Does it look like those of your competitors? Are you using the latest design principles? Basically, you need to decide whether your website actually looks like it belongs to 2013. It can be hard to critique your own business, but can often be better for long-term success.

I did the same for my business and realised I needed the help of a team of experts to get my site up-to-date; I got straight on Google and looked for companies who do website design in Manchester! If you’re unsure about whether your website suits the here and now, here are few different aspects you can analyse a bit further so you know whether to get a company in to do a redesign.

Clunky design

There are some websites which have everything in a very square box. The site may have worked well when it was first launched, but since then new services or sections have been bolted on, making everything a bit confusing. If you have trouble navigating your own website, imagine how your visitors will feel. It’s worth making your website as easy to navigate as possible, so perhaps you should think about a bit more white space and less clutter. As a rule, don’t make people click their mouse more than three times when they’re looking for something.

Ancient content

If your website text has come straight from a manufacturer, you should change this in the first instance. When there is identical content elsewhere on the web, this is known as duplicate content, which may make your site harder to find in the search engines. Another common problem is simply not updating content frequently enough, which may mean your site alludes to certain months or years in the past, or even may feature people who don’t work at your company any more. Have a good review of everything on your website and create a priority list of things to change.

Stock imagery

Have you ever surfed the web and noticed that more than one website has the same image? This is generally down to the use of stock photography; people simply buy the image to use but it is available to other companies too. This can make your website feel impersonal and could even reduce people’s level of trust with you. It might be a good idea to commission your own photography and use these as you need them.

Garish colours

Finally, compare the colours used on your website to those of your competitors. Standing out is a good thing, just do it to the right extent. Ultimately, you want people to be able to read what is on your website without getting eye ache. And while you’re at it, make sure you don’t have any scrolling text or flashing banners; it’s very “last decade”!