These days a website is a business’ first impression. It is the first thing a client will see when deciding if you are the right fit to do business with. You can think of it as a job interview with potential clients. Would you hire someone who showed up looking like a mess to a job interview? No, probably not.

HOW TO TELL IF YOUR WEBSITE IS A MESS

There are a few signs that will alert you to this. You can determine if your site needs improvement by asking yourself a few simple questions.

• Have I updated the design of my website in the past 2 years?
• Can visitors immediately recognize the nature of my business?
• Does it clearly communicate that I offer what no one else can?
• Is there a natural path of navigation for first time users to follow?

If you answered no to any of these questions, chances are that you could benefit from revamping your website. Site architecture and design are two important factors in user experience. A good user experience is essential for SEO rankings. Search Engines like Google want to know that users are finding what they are looking for when they visit your site. This is determined by collecting various types of data, which can be tracked using Google Analytics. Chances are that if your site is difficult to navigate, it is not ranking very well.

Site speed is another important factor when it comes to user experience. Sites that take longer to load experience much higher bounce rates, meaning that users will only visit one page and then leave. Not only does this negatively affects your rankings, but it will discourage users from wanting to spend time on your site learning about your business. There are a number of measures you can take to improve your site speed, ranging from resizing the images to installing plug ins and making regular updates to your back-end.

A total website overhaul is an investment, but the many benefits that you can reap from it justify the cost. If you want to learn more about ways you can improve your website, we’d love to meet.

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