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The internet is littered with outdated, tired and neglected websites.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Outdated Design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Other design elements that indicate your site is outdated are: clip-art, scrolling text, animated gifs, a busy background, a visitor counter, a guest book, illegible text, and auto-play music.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.

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One of the reasons I suggest WordPress as a web solution to my clients is the number of high quality, flexible and polished themes available. Premium themes give you a powerful, dynamic website “out of the box”, with short turnaround time and a very small investment. However, one should always do their research. Themes come in all shapes, sizes, colors, categories and styles. Before you invest in one, you need to know what you are buying and, more importantly that it will suit your needs.

Premium or Free, what is the difference?

“ Purchasing a premium theme gives you a powerful, dynamic website “out of the box”, with short turnaround time and a very small investment. ”

Simply put, a premium theme is one that you pay for, usually because it has a better design or more features. There are definitely a lot of quality free themes available for download, and they are great if you are on a very limited budget. With a little knowledge of PHP/HTML/CSS and some time, you can usually customize a free theme to meet your needs. However, if your time is money or you don’t have the coding experience, spending a modest amount of money on a premium theme is well worth the investment.

The biggest advantage of premium themes over free ones is that they work right out of the box, are very customizable and have styles and functions specifically developed for each individual theme. Premium themes typically come with thorough documentation, and you can normally depend it’s developer for support if you need it. More often than not the developer will also have forums you can reference if you get stuck. Also, updates and patches are usually free with premium themes. All of these features make premium themes much more valuable then free ones, which is why the premium theme market has seen a boom in recent years.

Determine which theme style you need

There are so many great premium themes available that it can be a little overwhelming. Many people purchase a theme on impulse because they love the design, only to find out later that it simply doesn’t fit their needs. So it is important to figure out what you need in a theme before shopping.

One important consideration when purchasing a theme is the amount of time you will be spending on updating the site after it is finished. Blog, magazine and news styled themes are designed for lots of content and regular updates, which will require much more time and energy. If you do not update a theme of this style frequently it will soon lose it’s appeal to readers. If you do not plan to regularly update the site, you should consider themes with a corporate design. Corporate themes are designed with more ‘static’ pages (about us, our services, etc) and will have a small area for news updates.

As WordPress has grown in popularity, so too have them number of theme styles. Premium themes usually fall into one of these style categories:

Blog

Standard blog style themes are the most common style because WordPress is in it’s most basic form a blogging platform.

Magazine Style or News

Blog, magazine and news themes typically require more content and regular updating.

Corporate style

Usually more static content, smaller area for news/updates. Doesn’t require as much updating.

Portfolio/Gallery

Focus is on images/photos and not on copy

e-Commerce

Storefront style theme, usually connects with external payment gateways such as PayPal/Google checkout

Social Network/Community

All the features of a social network, with registered users and groups, forums, etc.

Niche Specific

There are many niche specific themes out there, such as geo-centric travel blogs, knowledge base, directories, recipes, real estate listings and more.

Options, Support & Other Important Factors

Now that you are more familiar with the theme styles available it is time to look at other factors that should play a significant role in your decision making process. While style may be the most important consideration, there are others that should be a close second (if not just as important). Remember, just because a theme looks amazing doesn’t mean it’s the best fit for your site. Take a look at the following list and be sure to keep them in mind while shopping for your premium theme.

Cross-browser compliance

Test the demo function properly in Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari and Chrome.

Widget Support

Any premium theme worth it’s salt will support widgets. If it doesn’t, think twice before buying it.

GPL Licensing

Most premium WordPress themes are released under the GPL license. If the theme you are interested is not, be sure it is GPL compatible

Documentation

All premium WordPress themes should come with good documentation and instructions on how to administer the theme.

Forums

Most premium theme designers have forums where you can discuss the theme with others that may have the same questions or issues. The forums may sometimes be locked to anyone other than theme club members, so you’ll have to purchase the theme first.

Paid Support

When you purchase a premium theme, some designers will give you free support for a pre-determined period. Others will simply direct you to a support form or forum indefinitely.

Free Updates

Be sure any theme updates (usually for bug fixes) are available to you at no cost. Also find out if the theme designer contacts you pro-actively when an update becomes available.

Tutorials and How-to Videos

Lots of designers are making how to videos and theme tutorials available to theme buyers. It adds value to the theme and makes it more attractive to potential buyers.

Cost

Premium theme vary in price, but you’ll typically spend well under $100 for a single domain license. Other licenses are available, but for small businesses and non-profit organizations there isn’t really any need for them.

Keep in mind that price does not necessarily equal quality. Premium themes have become a commodity, and as such due diligence should be applied when making your purchase. I suggest shopping around and bookmarking any themes that stand out and suit your needs. After you have the list narrowed down, go back and dig into each one. Test drive the theme (if it has no demo, don’t bother spending money on it). Read as much as you can about each theme, look at the designers portfolio. Is it extensive? Read comments and feedback. You can learn a lot about a designer from people who have already purchased a theme from them.

If you are still on the fence and have doubts but really like the theme, contact someone who has purchased it already. Usually their websites are linked to their comments. Lastly, when purchasing a premium WordPress theme, be sure to use a decent third-party payment system like Google Checkout or PayPal. This will protect you in case the seller is less then honest.