7 Signs You Need a Website Redesign ASAP

Is your website loading too slow or is it difficult to navigate? It’s probably time for a website redesign.

A website redesign is no simple task. Website Redesign involves overhauling your entire website and making significant changes to the overall design, structure, navigation, codebase, and even the content management system (CMS).

Two significant factors to consider are time and money—redesigns are not a quick or cheap process, not to mention the effort involved.

However, it can be very successful for your business if done correctly and for the right reasons.

A well-designed, intuitive, and brand-encompassing website is a must in today’s world to keep up with the competition and produce the best possible user experience (UX) and user interface (UI).

To start a website redesign, you must have solid reasoning with a specific desired outcome. Here at Media Junction, we’ve been building websites for over 25 years.

We’ve helped over 1,500 Hubspot customers in the last 12 years. We’ve seen, heard, and redesigned it all.

7 Signs Your Website Needs a Redesign

Your Website Gives Users a Poor Experience
Your Website Is Not Producing Results That Get You Excited
Your Website No Longer Represents Who You Are as a Brand
Your Website Resembles a Brochure
Your Website Platform Lacks Security
You Lack of Control Over Your Website
Your Website Platform Lacks Business Tools and Functions

1. Your Website Gives Users a Poor Experience

Overall, you feel content with your website design; however, you understand that it doesn’t particularly matter what you think and that it’s all about UX and UI, which directly impacts how users interact with your site and content.

Without a clean and intuitive end-user experience, your website is like an old, dusty book with a broken spine—it may (or may not) have the correct information, so who wants to read it?

UX refers to the overall “user experience” that a user has while visiting your website.

UI refers to “user interface,” the individual elements that make up your website: the site pages, buttons, iconography, different visual elements, and how they all link together.

These elements should make a user want to dive into your website and learn more.

Most Common Areas of Concern for UX and UI:

Your website is not responsive across screen sizes—mobile on up
Your website is not responsive across all browsers
Your website has bad core vitals such as poor code or too many scripts that negatively impact the user
You have broken links, images, and videos across your website

To evaluate how your UI is impacting your end-user, ask yourself these top 3 questions:

Am I making it easy for end-users to get answers to their questions?
Are button destinations clear and concise?
Am I providing enough contrast in my links and buttons to direct a user to take the next step?

Usability is critical to the overall end-user experience and helps define your customer’s relationship with your brand. If you decide your UX and UI could use an upgrade, designing for usability is essential (not just what you think may look good).

2. Your Website Isn't Producing Results that Excite You

Your website may be “doing the job,” but is it producing results that get you jumping out of bed in the morning?

Your website should be one of your number one employees—working for you by bringing in leads and potential customers, selling your goods and services, and, ultimately, growing your business.

If your website lacks in these areas and you’re sick of measly results, consider the following:

Your End-Users Aren't Taking Action

Suppose visitors are not taking action on your pages, such as scheduling a consultation or filling out personal information.

In that case, they are likely seeking action elsewhere and giving business to a competitor instead.

The main reasons why your end-users are not taking action include:

Your web pages don’t have a clear, actionable goal or purpose for the end-user—they are not intuitive.
Your website is hard to navigate, so users leave fast. It only takes 50 milliseconds to determine one’s first impression of a site; therefore, navigating must be super clear.
Slow-loading pages that take more than a second to load
Your call to action (CTA) is unclear:

CTA positioning and timing are off
CTA is annoying, disrupts the user’s experience
CTA is not tested and optimized for the best results
Users ignore CTA due to a lack of trust in authority

Your Visitors Don't Convert

A poor conversion rate has everything to do with the user’s experience on your site within that first 50 milliseconds and how that person decides to interact with your website.

Your design may be making it difficult for end-users to complete tasks or convert (make a purchase or fill out a form), which results in a loss of revenue.

Your Website has conversion blockers:

Broken links
Misspelled words
Outdated documents and media files
Excessive external links or no use of external links
Missing H1 tags, form titles, alt tags for images

Users that visit your site organically typically have a specific intent of what they’re looking for— if you can answer their question or provide them with the solution quickly and easily, they are more likely to convert rather than bounce.

Your Pages Have High Bounce Rates

Bounce rate is the percentage of single interaction visits to your website. A high bounce rate is in the 70% range or higher. Anything under 40% is considered excellent.

Ideally, we want end-users to visit more than one page, not just bounce immediately after entering.

Top reasons people are not staying on your site or converting:

Website has poor content
Poor UX and UI
Technical problems or annoyances
Slow load time

Your Pages Have Low Dwell Time

Dwell time is how long a user stays on your page before heading back to search results.

If users aren’t spending at least two minutes on your site after finding you on Google, they likely aren’t happy with their results.

Your page content does not match the user’s searching intent
The page is cluttered and confusing
Poor internal linking
No multimedia (images, videos)

Reasons Your Site Doesn't Get Any Traffic

Poor use of SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
Poor UX and UI
Low-quality content or not enough content

5 Important questions to ask yourself if you’re experiencing low conversion rates, high bounce rates, low dwell times, or no traffic at all:

Does my meta description and SEO accurately describe what’s on the page?
Are people taking action as they land on my website?
How long are people spending on each page?
Are they returning to the site after their initial visit?
Is the content digestible enough to entice conversion?

Think back to reason one—how’s your end-users experience?

If they’re not getting the experience they’d hoped for when clicking on your site, you’re most likely not getting successful results.

3. Your Website No Longer Represents Who You Are as a Brand

Your Website is Visually Inconsistent

All visual styling (including colors, fonts, logos, and imagery) should be uniform across all mediums.

Your brand should look the same on your website as on your print materials, social media accounts, and all other mediums.

Visual consistency is key to building brand recognition and customer loyalty. Some of the most common visual inconsistencies include:

Large variety in page layouts
A wide array of colors
A wide array of typography
No similarities in comparison to other websites and standard website functionalities

Your Content Doesn't Match Your Voice

The copy on your website should be in your brand’s unique voice and styling. In addition, the imagery should align.

Again, consistency is critical, especially with how you communicate your brand’s personality and values to your customers. A recognizable voice is comforting.

Your Messaging is Inconsistent

Along with a unique voice, your brand should have a consistent message to your audience.

Your message is extremely important to have represented clearly on your website to show personality and warmth.

4. Your Website Resembles a Brochure

If your website acts solely as a flat information board, maybe it’s time for additional features that can turn your website into a more complex business asset.

Your website in 2022 should be captivating and knowledgeable—providing valuable and digestible information to end-users. If not, you know that users will bounce off your site and move on to the next.

Poor Design and Too Many Stock Images

Quality matters in the hands of the end-user as it reflects the quality of your brand. Flat, hard-to-follow designs with low-resolution and cheesy images will not cut it.

Websites should be dynamic and show personality through company imagery, content, and copy.

You're Not Using a CRM

A Customer Relationship Management (CRM)systems can help your sales team close deals and convert more website leads into loyal customers.

Learn valuable information about how your leads interact with your website and content.

No Knowledge Base on Site

Knowledge bases have many benefits, including saving time and potentially money by answering customer questions first through self-service.

5. Your Website Platform Lacks Security

Security is vital for your reputation, your customer’s data, and traffic to your site.

A lack of security causes your website to rank lower in search results as Google wants to provide the end-user with an accurate and secure experience. Many web vulnerabilities put your customer’s data at risk of hackers, leading to potential legal issues.

Many Web Security Vulnerabilities

HTTP instead of HTTPS
HTTP websites are not secure
Misconfiguration
Vulnerabilities with free plug-ins or free website themes

6. You Lack Control Over Your Website

Having complete control over your website is essential in providing the best end-user experience at all times, and we know how important that is for producing results.

At a minimum, adding and removing sections to your website, editing copy, updating SEO, and keeping your images up to date should be up to you, the marketer, at any time.

You Have a Hard-Coded Website

No content management system (CMS)
You have to wait for a developer or programmer to make changes to your website

You, as the marketer, should be empowered to edit your website’s content, navigation SEO, or whatever it may be at any time to ensure the best end-user experience.

If you don’t have those capabilities, having a CMS to make editing a breeze would be beneficial.

You Don't Own Your Domain

Owning your domain gives your brand identity, allowing you to be seen as credible and memorable to the people that visit your custom site.

Owning a domain will ultimately help you stray from your competitors in a good way and give you the authority in your space.

7. Your Website Platform Lacks Business Tools and Functions

Websites are capable of incredible feats in 2022. Does your website handle all of your current business needs?

As a trusted partner with Hubspot, we have seen the value of controlling everything in your business in one place.

From your marketing and sales software to your customer relationship management system (CRM), Hubspot supports it all (while being able to access your website CMS at any time).

Your website’s tools should help you deliver a fantastic customer experience, not be disjointed and confusing.

HubSpot accomplishes this synchronicity with the following tools:

Marketing Hub
Sales Hub
Service Hub
CMS Hub
Operations Hub

There are features that come with more advanced websites, which provide end-users with experiences that are more comfortable and conversion-inducing.

These features include:

Password protected areas
Personalization
Customized experiences for different users
Memberships
E-commerce and more

Are You Ready for a Website Redesign?

Now that you know the most common signs that it’s time for a website redesign, you can assess whether or not it’s time for you.

Does your website have an intuitive end-user experience? Is it producing results that get you excited?

Perhaps there’s a combination of reasons to redesign—whatever it may be, make sure you’re willing to spend the time, money, and effort to do so.

Just know the website redesign will be worth it in the end, for you, your team, your business, and especially your customers, if done right.

Learn more about why you should redesign your website with HubSpot.

Is Media Junction Your Next Redesign Agency?

At Media Junction, we build and redesign websites right—our builds are dynamic and intuitive, and most importantly, they drive results.

We understand that no two websites are the same. Therefore, we work with our clients to ensure their redesign meets all their goals.

Book a meeting with one of our team members to get started with a website redesign or get more information from Media Junction!

Not sure yet about a website redesign? Visit Media Junction’s website to see our flexible services and additional information on website redesigns.