Ways to check if your website is out of date
Any platform needs regular updates in order to keep up with the times. Technology evolves, so your website has to follow all the latest tech demands in order to perform well and look good. But how to know when your site gets outdated?
Today, the web development team at WishDesk shares 10 signs your website is out of date. If you notice at least one sign on your platform, it is high time to consider refreshing or even redesigning it.
10 Signs your website is out of date
Here are the most common issues that make websites outdated. Besides, these issues reduce website traffic dramatically, as well as influence user experience in a bad way. Check out whether you have faced any of them!
1. You haven’t updated your homepage for a year or more
The website’s homepage influences the first impression. If it looks outdated, has poor design, no call-to-actions, and unclear structure, your visitors will likely bounce out and never come again.
The solution: update the content on your homepage at least once a year. Are there any things that have changed and need to be updated? Maybe your business has new objectives, or you offer brand-new products or services? Is information on the homepage is still relevant? Are there any numbers or dates that have to be changed? Check all the content carefully and update the necessary data.
2. You haven’t added new content within the last month
If visitors come to your platform and see outdated content, they will consider your website outdated. This also has a bad impact on your search engine rankings.
The solution: put in some fresh content and do it regularly! Create a special content plan in advance to not forget updating your site with new posts. We recommend writing content for a website beforehand as well. This will save your time and efforts.
3. Your website looks bad on the mobile phone
If your website doesn’t look good on mobile phones or other gadgets, it means that it is not mobile-friendly and design is not responsive. This reduces user experience and Google rankings. More and more people are using smartphones to surf the net nowadays, that’s why you should build your platform with mobile-friendly principles in mind.
The solution: Hire specialists to adapt your platform to different screen sizes and see how your traffic grows.
4. You receive a lot of spam
Cyberattacks are quite common for platforms with low security. Special hack bots crawl the web in search of unsecured websites and infect them with viruses and malware code. This is bad both for you and your visitors. If you receive a lot of spam emails or warnings of attack, this means that your site needs an additional layer of security.
The solution: there are many methods to protect your website. You definitely have to update core, modules or plugins, and theme, as well as restricts roles and permissions. If you don’t know how to do that, contact specialists who will take care of your website security. Don't forget about backups. They will help you restore all the information in case your platform is hacked.
5. You have low organic search rankings
If you see that your website gets low rankings from organic search, it means you have to update the keywords on your platform.
The solution: Look through all the content and refresh it. Use keywords that are relevant to your business. You can conduct research to see what keywords are the most popular for your kind of website.
6. A copyright year is not current
The most clear sign that your website hasn’t been updated for a long time is outdated copyright.
The solution: a copyright year can be updated either manually or with the help of special app that does it automatically. Don’t forget to fix it every year!
7. Your website is not linked to social media
It is hardly possible to imagine modern business without social media, as it is a way to keep in touch with your audience, advertise your products or services, and more. If your website is not integrated with social media, it means it hasn’t been updated for a long time!
The solution: create social media accounts if there aren’t any and integrate them into your website by adding social media icons.
8. Your website loads slowly
If your web page load speed is low, your platform is clearly outdated! Google pays a lot of attention to website speed. If you want your users to be satisfied and your platform to be ranked higher in search results, you should pay attention to page load speed.
The solution: Discover how to increase page load speed in our blog post!
9. Your website design looks old-fashioned
Take a look at your website design and ask yourself whether you are satisfied with how it looks. Be honest with yourself. When was the last time your website was refreshed or redesigned? Maybe it has elements that are outdated and don’t appeal to your visitors anymore.
The solution: contact a web development agency for web design services in accordance with the latest web design trends!
10. Poor user experience
Poor user experience means that your visitors are not satisfied with your site’s functionality and navigation. It means that they don’t feel comfortable surfing your platform. It also means that the navigation is not intuitive and it is hard to find this or that element on your website.
The solution: follow this guide to make your website more user-friendly and improve user experience!
It’s time to refresh your website!
If you answered ‘yes’ to the above-mentioned issues, bad news your website is out of date. We would highly recommend you to refresh your website or even consider a full redesign. Learn more about the latest web design trends, SEO techniques, and accessibility requirements to make your platform user-friendly, provide positive user experience, and gain more traffic. WishDesk is always here to help you with website refreshing services!