Signs That It's Time for a New Website

Wondering if you need a new website? Then you probably do.

Have you ever caught yourself listening to that little voice inside your head, wondering if your website needs a fresh makeover? Well, here's a secret—if you're hearing that voice, then it's likely time for a new website.

Here are a few of the most common signs your website may be ready for an update:

1. Your sales team is embarrassed to send your website link to prospects.

That’s right. If the sales team would rather send them to the Facebook page or attach collateral, your website might not be portraying the “with-it” professional image you think it is.

2. You provide a disclaimer that “it’s been a while since we updated our website” when you ask someone to visit your website.

Sound familiar? It probably means your website is outdated and you’re not proud of it.

3. Your computer prompts you to download Flash when you visit the website.

Hmmm. Most moved past Flash more than a few years ago. It is definitely time for an upgrade.

4. You have overused or cheesy stock photography on your website.

Are your images played out or a bit goofy? You guessed it - time for a refresh.

In today's digital landscape, there are incredible resources available to enhance your graphic design endeavors without breaking the bank. Tools like Canva offer a wealth of features and templates to help you effortlessly create visuals that effectively market your services. Furthermore, there are now AI-assisted image technologies that can assist you in crafting the perfect images to captivate your audience. Leverage these advancements to ensure your website stands out in the competitive online market.

5. None of the phone numbers on the website are click-to-call buttons.

Click-to-call buttons are critical for mobile traffic and getting ranked on Google. If you don’t have click-to-call buttons your website may have been built before mobile devices were a thing.

6. You don’t have an SSL Certificate.

Most old websites we see don’t have SSL certificates. They typically come standard with all new website builds. If you don’t have one, it's not sending the right trust signals to Google and it will most certainly impact your rankings.

7. Links and/or images don’t show up on your website anymore.

When you visit your website are there missing links, misaligned content, or images that don’t exist anymore? If multiple people are handling your website, if you've made some recent changes, or your website is so old the pages you linked to have been taken down, you likely have broken links.

Not only do broken links make for a terrible user experience, but they also send red flags to search engines that your site is old and not worth delivering in search results. After all, Google has a reputation for recommending only the best of the best to uphold.

8. Leads are down

Lead capture looking a bit worse for the wear? Your site may be the culprit. A new site with modern capabilities can help you get back on track.

9. You've rebranded

Congratulations on your rebrand! Now that you've got a fantastic new look, your site should reflect that. Time to show it off!

10. You hate your website.

No shame in your game. There are tons of reasons for limping along with an outdated website. Whatever the reason, if your website is 3+ years old, it's worth having one of our digital marketing experts take a look.

Every day, business owners reach out to us for online marketing help. They know they have an outdated website and turn to HLM for our website design and development expertise to bring their website into the modern era.

Design trends and technology change rapidly.Working with a company that stays on top of Google changes and can quickly and consistently update your website will ensure your site stays fresh.

Google has made significant algorithm updates and changes over the past couple of years, many of these changes are designed to reward websites that provide a great user experience. In April of 2023, Google updated their EEAT guidelines, which serve as a baseline for how members of their quality rater teams are instructed to review websites. These guidelines often place a large emphasis on relevancy and experience, which go hand in hand with websites that are easy to operate and provide up-to-date information. If you have concerns about your website performance, it is likely one or more of these factors are affecting your rankings and costing you leads. Our free website and SEO evaluation will reveal what you need to do to get it back on track and deliver up leads. And isn't that the biggest reason for having a website anyway?