We’ve all seen the obvious signs of an outdated website — annoying repetitive backgrounds, animated gifs everywhere, loads of text, and going way back to the early days of the internet, the infamous hit counter.
But what are some less obvious signs that your website is outdated?
1. Your Website Is Not Responsive.
Nowadays, people are on their mobile devices more than ever, as mobile now exceeds desktop usage overall. Focusing on a responsive experience means your site should automatically adjust to any screen size your site is being viewed on, whether that be mobile, tablet or desktop. This has become increasingly important as Google now uses mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal in Search.
Is your website mobile friendly? You can find out here.
2. Your Navigation is Overly Complicated.
Does your site have too many menu items in your navigation? Do your dropdowns have dropdowns? Navigation patterns like this can be overwhelming for your visitors – when they think they’ve made a decision in clicking the menu, you present them with a brand new list of options they have to select from.
In reality, your main menu should strive to be clear and focused by displaying only the most necessary items – and try to avoid adding any dropdowns if possible.
3. You Have Inconsistent Branding
Does your site display more than 3 fonts? In modern design, simplicity is king. Having too many fonts, multiple logos or lots of different colors creates inconsistency and hurts the integrity of your site. Your website’s experience should be simple and clean, not like an 11 year old who had fun with word art.
4. You Have Broken Images or Broken Links.
A broken link, often referred to as a “dead link” occurs when you click a button or link and nothing happens. Broken links and images that go nowhere show signs of a website that is not well maintained, which can be really frustrating for the user and causes them to question the quality of your brand.
5. No Clear Call-to-Action
Your visitors do not want to spend a lot of time navigating through your website. Typically, they are looking for answers about what you offer, so making the visitor hunt for this information is just bad business. Your main objective should be front and center, with very few clicks between them and the answer they’re looking for.
Having any of the above symptoms can lead to frustration and potentially damage the reputation of your business, so it’s important to remember your website is the first stop for many of your customers and where you will begin building rapport. A clean and concise website will help you achieve a reputation of a more established, modern brand.
Do any of these signs seem familiar? Are you afraid your outdated website might be hurting your rep? If so, take a look at our blog post 3 Ways to Prototype Your Idea for next steps on brainstorming how to improve your site.