Metrics that indicate you need a redesign

 

Is it time for a website redesign? A redesign isn’t just about swapping one image for another, a redesign should improve your website making it more user-friendly and appealing to your audience. This may involve a new technology platform, new site architecture or even a rebranding.

But how do you know it’s time for a redesign?

If you have Google Analytics, here are three simple signs that indicates it is time for a redesign:

1. You aren’t getting any traffic (visitors and sessions)

If the number of visitors and sessions are low then it is likely you need to work on your SEO and marketing strategies.

Your website needs to be SEO friendly, with all the latest strategies and on-site optimisation in place to ensure you are appearing high up in Googles results. If your website isn't fully optimised for SEO you may need a redesign.

Another key element to improving SEO is consistently publishing new, interesting and informative content to your website. If it isn’t easy to update your website or add or make changes to your content then it is time for a redesign.  

2. The bounce rate is high

The bounce rate is the percentage of people who have landed on your website and then left your website without viewing any other of your pages. If you have a high bounce rate this means lots of people are leaving your website before doing anything on it.

High bounce rates are usually caused by:

• The website not being easy to use. This may be because you aren’t mobile-friendly, the design of your site is confusing or the site navigation hasn’t been built well.

• Visitors aren’t finding what they are looking for fast enough. You only have 3 seconds to make an good impression, if the user can’t see what they are looking for within a few seconds of entering your website then they are likely to leave.

• No clear call-to-action. Put yourself in the user’s shoes, what would you be looking for? Your website needs to guide the user to find the answers they are looking for. This may be to search for properties or contact you. You need to make this easy for them.

• The loading speed is too slow. The modern user is in too much of a rush to wait for webpages to load. If the website doesn’t open within seconds you are likely to lose your audience.

• The welcome message isn’t compelling. You have one chance to make an impression and your welcome message is a huge part of this. It tells the user who you are and what you do. If this isn’t clear and compelling then you are likely to lose your audience.

3. Low conversion rate

Every website should have some sort of goal. This may be to get your audience to search for properties, sign up to email alerts or maybe even fill out a contact form. A conversion rate is the percentage of visitors who complete this goal.

If your conversion rate is low then it means the website isn’t doing its job. Here’s why this may be happening:

• Users are accessing your site from a device that isn’t compatible with your website (e.g. mobile or tablet), making it difficult to complete the conversions.

• Something may be technically wrong (e.g. slow load times, broken links).

• Losing traffic, fewer visitors mean fewer conversions.

• You are getting the wrong kind of traffic. You may be drawing people to your website that aren’t looking for your services due to poor or vague keyword choices.

• Poor call-to-actions. If people are coming to your website but not converting then your message or location of the message may need looking at.

Google Analytics metrics to review

1) Traffic overview

• Number of visitors
• Number of sessions
• Number of Page Views
• Time spent on site
• Bounce rate

2) Technology

• Devices users are accessing your website from
• The bounce rate from each of these devices
• Browsers users are using

3) Acquisition

• Find out where your traffic is coming from
• Number of visitors from organic search
• Number of visitors coming directly to your website
• Number of referrals
• Number of social

 

These metrics will help answer the 3 signs above and help you to decide whether it is the right time for you to have a redesign or stick with what you have.

If you are still unsure whether your website needs a redesign, feel free to request a free web or Google Analytics review here.