The internet is littered with outdated, tired and neglected websites. You know the type. You are going about your day, doing a Google search. Then you click on a search result and suddenly your staring at 1995. Almost 99% of the time those sites will get abandoned. Immediately. Are you one of these sites?
Here are some ways to tell:
Outdated Design
Do you still have a splash page? Ditch it, it’s just eye candy and a hurdle.
A web page seen in IE7, Firefox and Opera
Does your site use frames and tables? Frames and tables lead to bloated code, slow page load time and are a pain to update. CSS and DIV”s have replaced them and streamlined everything.
Does your site display across all browsers? Test it in IE, Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Opera and mobile browsers as well.
Does your site have images? If so, are they optimized? Large image sizes can slow page loads to a crawl.
Other design elements that indicate your site is outdated are: clip-art, scrolling text, animated gifs, a busy background, a visitor counter, a guest book, illegible text, and auto-play music. If you have any of these it’s seriously time to consider a new website.
Old and Irrelevant Content
Has your business expanded or evolved? Are all the products and services on the site relevant to your operation?
Does your site have a copyright in the footer? What’s the date on it? If it’s not current, shame on you.
Does the copy reflect your current business? How long has it been since you updated the copy on your site?
Confusing and Ugly Navigation
Confusing Navigation
Is your navigation user-friendly and intuitive? Too many menu items just confuses people. Sub-menus should be used to consolidate the navigation.
Can users find what they need with 2 clicks or less? Users should be able to find the contact form with a single click from any page on the site.
Limited User Engagement
Can users send you feedback? Allowing comments or simple contact form for feedback are easy to implement and a proven way to engage your users.
Do you use social media? Is it integrated with your website? Some businesses have no need for social media, and that’s understandable. But if you can leverage it, you should.
Do you have a newsletter? A monthly newsletter is a great way to keep in touch with clients. Even if they don’t read it every time, it reminds them you are there.
Do you use any forms? Are they necessary and simple to use? Users hate forms. Privacy is a huge issue. If they don’t trust you, they won’t fill out the form. Keep the forms as minimal as possible.
Do you have sounds on your site? Auto-play music is a throwback to the 90′s. Does your navigation make noise when hovered over? This may have been cool 10 years ago, but it’s annoying today.
Limited or non-existent SEO
Are you using Google’s analytics and webmaster tools? If not, you should be because they’re free!
Does your site appear in search engine results? It should. Don’t just search your business name, either. Search using keywords relevant to your business and see where you stand.
Does your website use old, deprecated HTML Tags? Old, obsolete code is ugly to modern browsers. CSS does amazing things and makes the web streamlined and more efficient.
Are you using outdated, SEO tricks? Hidden text, hundreds of keywords crammed senslessly into the bottom of the page, link farms. If you use these I will almost gaurantee you have fallen out of favor with the major search engines.
High Ongoing Cost
Does your site cost you money every time you need to update it? It shouldn’t. Unless you are updating the design (images, colors, templates) it should cost you NOTHING to update your site. You should have full editorial control, unless you are paying someone to blog.
Are you paying too much for hosting? Outdated hosting contracts are very common. People simply renew without researching. The fact is, hosting is cheap. It should cost you $10 a month to host a simple website with unlimited email addresses.
Now What?
OK, so you’ve determined that your current online presence is outdated. Now what? What if I told you there was a simple, cost effective and flexible way to renew your online presence? In my next post I’ll show you how WordPress is able to address all your needs while giving you full editorial control, with little to no ongoing cost. It really isn’t too good to be true, and I’ll explain why.