A high-performance website is a crucial tool in today’s world of business. It is imperative to have some form of online presence irrespective of the type of business you run. With over 4 billion people using the internet every day, a good website can boost your business. It is true that most businesses today have websites but there are still complaints about poor conversion rates and a string of other issues that affect revenues adversely.
It is no longer enough to own a website in this highly competitive online ecosystem. You need to make regular updates to your eCommerce website to overcome every new challenge your competition throws at you. Your investments in eCommerce development will pay off handsomely by boosting traffic to your site, increasing sales conversions, and by providing other positive effects. This article highlights signs that serve to warn you that your website needs an update.
1. Poor Conversion
One of the biggest problems eCommerce stores have to contend with is poor conversion. It is a precursor for failure especially if you have good traffic. While most website owners focus on attracting traffic, there is less focus on conversions. This leads to failure. Many startups go to great lengths to create visibility and attract traffic. However, with poor conversions, their online businesses fail to turn a profit.
If you notice that the traffic on your website is good but conversions are low, it is time to update your website. There is a need for a re-evaluation of keywords to guarantee you attract relevant traffic. When you choose the right keywords, you can attract visitors who are more likely to convert. This step in the right direction will increase average order value.
2. Poor Page Load Speed
In this fast moving era of efficient technology, visitors bounce rate increases significantly when your website takes too long to load. It is important for website owners to check the speed at which the pages of their website load constantly. Multiple tools are available to help you do this. The best thing is that you also get suggestions on how to improve the loading speeds of your website. One of the major reasons for poor conversion is slow loading speeds. Heavy graphics and unnecessary functions could be the reason for an increase in the load time of individual pages and your website.
If your web pages take long to load, you can bet visitors will click away and go to your competitors. Carry out speed checks on all pages and use suggested strategies to improve page speeds. From enabling compression, minifying CSS, reducing redirects, using a content distribution network (CDN), minimizing HTTP requests, responsive web design, using asynchronous loading for CSS and JavaScript files, Defer JavaScript loading, reducing server response time to choosing the right hosting option, there is so much you can do to improve page loading speeds.
3. Visitors do not browse beyond the home page
Visitors visit your website but do not continue to browse beyond the home page. This is a clear indication that your website needs a fresh look and maybe new features to engage visitors. Use ‘Google Analytics’ to analyze the different activities a visitor carries out on your website. That will help you and your web agency to update your website with what visitors were actually looking for.
4. High Bounce Rates
The best thing with owning an eCommerce store is the availability of data to help review the performance of your business. If you notice a high bounce rate, it means something is wrong with your website. It is time for an update because this affects conversion rates and can ruin the reputation of your business.
A website refresh is necessary to reduce bounce rates. You can adopt multiple strategies to make an update. These include improving content readability, avoiding disruption of the UX, increased page loading speeds, providing relevant content, using compelling call-to-action (CTA), adding fresh content, targeting keywords with high-value traffic, adding attractive Meta Descriptions and multiple landing pages for high-volume keywords. All these are techniques that are applicable during a website update.
5. Poor Ranking on SERPs
If your website ranks poorly for the keywords that you target, then you are not in business. Research shows that most internet users do not search beyond the first page of search engine result pages (SERPs). If you cannot find your website on the first page of SERPs, it is time for a website refresh. During a website update, you should first carry out a technical SEO audit to identify the problem areas in your SEO campaign.
To boost SEO ranking, the areas to address during a website update include fixing duplicate content, improving site speeds, optimizing for mobile viewing, on-page optimization, using unique brief and descriptive titles, crafting ‘clickable’ meta descriptions, adding relevant content, alternative text descriptions (Alt tags) and a variety of other things. Working with an experienced SEO services provider helps you leverage the best techniques and gives you an edge over your competition.
6. Unappealing Website
While eCommerce website performance depends on more than just looks, you must create a glance-friendly website to captivate your visitors. Internet users have an infamous short attention span, making it necessary for you to work hard to capture their attention before they turn away.
Visual appeal is crucial because your website is your online storefront. If you have a website that looks poor, it creates a bad impression and reflects badly on your brand. This might not be the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of AOV calculation but it should. Web visitors want to interact with an interesting website while shopping. This is a good reason to invest in a website update. Such a project will have a direct impact on your revenues.
7. Security Concerns
Security is one of the greatest concerns for online businesses today. There is an increase in online fraud and you have to update your website to guarantee the security of your visitors. Most security options on older websites are obsolete and you need to refresh your website to avoid costly data breaches on your eCommerce store.
Updating your website also helps you stay compliant with new security regulations. You should consider the hosting you use for your website during the website update. You should look to use cutting edge security tools while you plan to refresh your website.
8. Keeping Up With Brand Changes
Times change and this means your brand may change with time. If you have a website, you need to incorporate such changes in it to create a seamless experience for your customers. It is untenable to rebrand and fail to make any changes to your website. Make sure your website reflects your brand as this will boost customer trust and loyalty.
A website refresh is a crucial part of eCommerce development as it helps reduce bounce rates, boost conversion, improve site speeds, build customer loyalty, grow your market reach through responsive web design and boost security on your website. Working with a renowned eCommerce web development company allows you to plan a comprehensive approach while redesigning your website to improve all aspects of your site.