While we are in the middle of this pandemic, our lives and our businesses have been upended. Because of social distancing many businesses have been forced to rely on online services and products. I have seen some local businesses that still do not have any online presence.
You might think that this will be a good time to redesign your website to attract new users and buyers. It may seem like this is a good solution to a poor performing website.
But, it may not.
Redesigning a website may not be the right solution. I know, it’s funny hearing that from a web design company. This is because most people believe that ranking on the web depends on the design of your website. Ranking actually has nothing to do with the appearance of your site. I have seen some ugly websites ranking high in the search engines.
Their design may not have high conversion rates, but it at least has visitors. I would love to redesign someone’s website, but the cost is about the same as creating a new website. The point is that it may not be necessary.
Here are some common website problems and the best solution for you.
Problem 1 – Low Website Traffic
Redesign the website? No.
If you don’t know how many people are visiting your website, you need to install Google Analytics and Google Search Console. This will tell you how many people are visiting your website, what page they are landing on, how long they stay on that page, and other important metrics.
Solution
If your web design is good, here is what you need.
- SEO (search engine optimization)
- Content marketing
- Google My Business optimization
Some may say, ”I do all my marketing on social media, such as Facebook.”
My answer is that while social media has its place in driving customers, it must not be the only means of marketing your business. Not everyone uses social media.
Studies have shown that 85% of people do an internet search before visiting a store or buying a product. That is why you want your website to rank and redesigning your site without doing proper SEO is not going to do it for you.
The Importance of SEO
Most people have never heard of the term SEO. That’s not a surprise because it is an industry specific term. In talking with hundreds of people, the vast majority have no idea, or the wrong idea, of how websites are ranked.
Most people believe the most popular websites get ranked higher because they are the most popular. That is circular reasoning. I’m not putting down these people, but that is why most people think that the design of their website will enable them to rank higher.
Doing SEO while designing a website is essential to ranking. But, many people have a website built or do one themselves without ever thinking about how the site is going to rank.
Investing in SEO and content marketing is not a luxury, it’s vital for your website’s success. This is what generates traffic and leads.
SEO is all about ranking your website in the search engines, especially Google. Once a visitor lands on your website, you must have what they are looking for, based off their search terms. That is content marketing.
Having the content, both written and visual, that people are looking for is essential for converting those visitors into buyers.
Problem 2 – Ranking Problem
Redesign the website? Yes, under certain conditions.
Let’s say you fixed your website by doing what you think is the proper SEO, but it’s still not ranking where you would like it to be, on the first page of Google.
Solution
The solution may be your content management system, or CMS. If the website is old, it may have been built on an outdated CMS that has limited SEO capabilities and is not mobile friendly.
If you built your website using a do-it-yourself CMS like Wix or Weebly, it’s not going to rank well in a competitive niche.
At Blue Lacy SEO we tried to convince a potential client to redesign their website because it was built with Wix. The business owner didn’t follow our advise and contacted Wix for help. Wix recommended an SEO and Wix expert to help the website rank by staying on the Wix platform. The business owner paid this “expert” $30 per hour to fix the site. I don’t know how many hours it took and what the total bill was, but the end result was a disaster. Their ranking did not improve at all.
We don’t make recommendations just to make more money, we make them to improve the client’s website and sales.
So, what is the preferred CMS? The only CMS we work with is WordPress. It powers 30% of the web and it is SEO friendly.
Problem 3 – The Competition Has Better Looking Websites
Redesign the website? No.
Your competitors have nice flashy websites that look pretty, so you might think a redesign is in order for your site. You could spend hundreds of dollars redesigning your website, only to find out that it is still ranking poorly and not converting.
Good web design is important once a visitor lands on your site, but if they can’t find you through an online search because you are number 50 in the results page, what good was the redesign?
Solution
It would be better to spend that redesign money on SEO to rank better. Unless you are an expert, hire someone to look at your content and adjust it to rank and convert it into sales. After all, that is the bottom line, sales. With more sales and more profit, you than then do the website redesign later.
Problem 4 – Your Website is Not Functioning Properly
Redesign the website? No.
This is a common problem, especially with WordPress websites. If proper maintenance and attention is not done to your website, it can eventually cause problems.
Common website problems are:
- WordPress core has not been updated in awhile.
- Plugins are outdated and have not been updated.
- Contact forms are not working.
- Other technical problems.
Solution
First, conduct a website audit to pinpoint any technical issues that could be causing problems with the website. At Blue Lacy SEO, we do these kinds of audits all the time using specialized software and our years of experience.
Second, update your plugins. Before you start updating, backup your website in case something breaks. This is crucial. If you see any plugins that have not been updated to a newer version in a year or more by the author, ditch those.
Third, update the WordPress core to the latest version. This will ensure the most recent features and security updates are available.
Fourth, do a malware scan. You can find free and paid ones. This scan will pinpoint any scrupulous software that has been installed without your knowledge and may cause your website to do strange things.
Problem 5 – You have Grown Tired of your Current Website
Redesign the website? Yes.
If you are just plain tired of seeing the same design with the same theme for several years, even though the website is performing well, then it is time for a redesign.
Solution
If you have a DIY website, be aware it may be more difficult to change themes. This would be a good time to change over to a WordPress site, which has thousands of themes to choose from.
WordPress has a steeper learning curve, but it is fairly easy to manage and it’s SEO friendly.
Conclusion
This article should give you a good idea whether a website redesign is really necessary. Armed with this knowledge, you can decide to do it yourself or hire an agency. If a web designer is too quick to recommend a redesign, then they probably just want to extract the most money from your pocket.
That being said, if you have a free website with a shared domain, a free site from Google, or a DIY site with Wix, Weebly, Go Daddy, etc., then I would definitely recommend a redesign with WordPress.
As always, if you need help contact Blue Lacy SEO.
