Does Your Small Business Website Need a Redesign?

A website doesn't need to look terrible to be hurting your business.

I've worked on plenty of websites that technically “worked.” They loaded. The phone number was there. The contact form occasionally sent an email. Nothing was obviously broken.

But they were still costing the business customers.

Your Website Is Often the First Impression

Before someone calls a contractor, accountant, restaurant, repair shop, or other local business, there's a good chance they're going to look the company up online.

They may spend only a few seconds deciding whether the business looks trustworthy.

An outdated website can unintentionally communicate:

• Is this company still in business?
• Will they answer the phone?
• Is the information here current?
• Can I trust them with my money?

That's especially unfortunate when the actual company behind the website is excellent.

Signs It's Time for a Redesign

A redesign may be worthwhile if:

• Your website is difficult to use on a phone.
• Pages load noticeably slowly.
• Important information takes several clicks to find.
• The site still references old employees, locations, prices, or services.
• You can't easily update it yourself.
• The contact form doesn't reliably work.
• Google barely sends you any visitors.
• The design looks significantly older than competing businesses.
• You're embarrassed to send customers to it.

That last one is surprisingly important.

Your website should be something you're comfortable putting on a business card, invoice, truck, social media profile, or email signature.

A Redesign Isn't Just About Appearance

When I rebuild a website, I'm interested in much more than changing colors and making the buttons prettier.

A modern website should also have:

• Clear navigation
• Fast-loading pages
• Mobile-friendly layouts
• Search-engine-friendly page structure
• Useful service pages
• Strong calls to action
• Secure forms
• Analytics
• Proper backups
• Maintainable code

The goal isn't simply to build a prettier website.

The goal is to build a website that does its job.

If your current website feels like something you're constantly working around rather than something actively helping your business, it may be time to replace it.