7 Signs Your Website Is Out-Of-Date
Wondering if your website is a bit out of date?
Or, let’s be real, you just realized it looks like your myspace page from when you were 16. Complete with pink text on a black background and emo music auto-playing. Yeah, it’s time to take a deep dive on a website update.
Here are the top signs your website is out-of-date.
Sign #1: Your website copy is old.
If the text on your site has an old location, old contact information, or the bios haven’t been updated in a couple of years, it’s time to refresh it. Updating the copy on your website is one of the easiest things you can do on your own. A few places to check the copy are:
About Page - bios, mission statement, values, etc.
Services - check to see if they are still being offered and if the hierarchy is accurate.
Contact - check that the information is accurate and that the form is working.
Home - is the hierarchy of what’s presented still correct?
Sign #2: You’re still using sidebars all over your website.
A website sidebar is a column that’s located either left or right (or both) of the main content on a website. These contain additional information, such as contact, blog categories, and services. A sidebar is like a check-out at a store. While your goal is to pay for your items, there are magazines, candy, and random items that distract you.
Unfortunately, I STILL see websites that use these on every page.
Sidebars should only be used on blog post pages and, maybe, the blog archive. Why not use sidebars on other pages? It’s a distraction.
Pages that have a specific call to action, such as a service page, shouldn’t have a sidebar that takes the visitor’s attention away from booking you and into another route. The home page should also be clear and focused on what your goals are - without the distraction of a sidebar.
Sign #3: You’re not using the full width of your website.
With large monitors becoming easier to come by, you’re losing out on valuable website real estate when you don’t use the full-width area of your site. I still see websites that have all their content centered with nothing touching the edge of the browser.
Sometimes it’s an obvious aesthetic choice and other times it’s obvious that the site is at least 6 years old.
The full-width design will allow you to show off your branded images, help the user feel less constrained, and help fill the page with more information without feeling crowded.
Sign #4: Your photos are obviously old.
Have you ever gone onto a website and realized the people in the photo are at least 5 years older now? What about any desktop photography showing the latest iPhone (from 8 years ago)? These are distractions that can be done away with by simply swapping out images with fresh ones.
If you have the budget, a yearly (or every 2 years) photoshoot should keep your site looking fresh and help your social media. Make sure to show only a few tech pieces and not make them an integral part of the images unless you’re planning on switching them frequently.
Sign #5: You’re using flash.
Thankfully, I’ve started seeing fewer of these types of websites but they still pop up occasionally. Not only does it require users to install or allow Flash to work, but it also has security issues, doesn’t work on Apple devices, and it slows down the browser.
Sign #6: Your website isn’t mobile-friendly or responsive.
Bring up your website on mobile. Does it literally look like it’s a shrunken version of desktop? That’s a big no-no. Not only is it a really bad user experience but Google will ding your status for it.
Your website should easily adjust itself to mobile so that the site visitor doesn’t have to zoom in and out to view content. Additionally, if a user is really frustrated, they might not even come back to your website. That’s a lost customer or client, meaning lost money.
Sign #7: You have text embedded into images.
Website best practices dictate that you shouldn’t have text over an image (as in embedded). If you can sign in to your website and edit the text without uploading a new image, you’re doing just fine. If you need to recreate the image and upload it in order for the text to change, you need to update your website.
If the image fails to load, the user won’t have a clue as to what information should really be there. Those going through your website on a screenreader will also miss the info and not only is that a bad user experience, but Google could ding your website for this bad practice.
Is your website out of date?
Tell me in the comments the one thing you’re going to do to get your site updated or the one thing you hate seeing on a website.
