Do You Need a New Website? Things to Consider Before You Ditch Your Current Website

Deciding to get a new website for your business is a big deal. A website should be an investment that serves your business well, but it’s not a quick fix to make your business profitable. When a potential client comes to me asking for a website redesign, it’s my job to figure out what’s going on in their business – and if a new website is really the next best step.

If you get a new website hoping to grow your business, but you still don’t have a solid marketing strategy in place to drive people to it, the website won’t be as effective. It’s kind of like getting a more expensive car before you learn to drive.

So, how do you know when it’s time for a website redesign, or if there’s something else in your business that you should work on first? Let’s dive in deeper, shall we?!

3 Common Situations That Cause Business Owners to Ask, “Is it Time for a website redesign?

I’ve noticed a trend of 3 common situations among business owners who are considering a new website. Now, these aren’t all of the reasons that you might be thinking of getting a new website, but these are some that I see most often.

• #1: Feeling frustrated with and limited by their current website builder. Many small business owners become frustrated if they are struggling to understand how to edit their website. Sometimes, this frustration occurs because they feel like the limitations of the builder prevent them from freely expressing their brand and personality.
• #2: Their business has changed, and their website is now outdated. Like most things in life, businesses grow and evolve over time. When the website isn’t being updated to match, it’s understandable that a lot of business owners begin to feel like their website isn’t a good fit anymore.
• #3: The website isn’t getting enough traffic, or the people visiting the site aren’t taking action. Whether a website is getting no traffic, low traffic, or isn’t leading to sales, this situation often causes business owners to question their site’s quality.

So, in these situations, do you really need a new website? Or is something else going on? Well, it depends on what’s causing the problem. Let me explain.

#1: Feeling frustrated with and limited by your current website builder

When a client comes to me with this problem, the first thing I want to know, is:

• What website builder are you currently using?
• Why are you frustrated with it?
• What’s the state of your current website?

Solution #1: Website Training

If their website is awesome, and it’s serving them well, then maybe they could just use some training on how to use their website builder. This is a great option for business owners who just want to feel more comfortable making updates to their website.

Solution #2: Maybe it’s Time for a New Site

However, if their website isn’t serving their audience and their business well – maybe it’s not even finished because they’re so frustrated with the website builder – it’s probably time for a new website on a different platform.

If that’s the boat that you’re in, the first thing I want you to do is research website builders and find one that works for you and your business needs. Then, you can move forward with getting a new website.

Showit: The Website Builder That Makes Web Design Fun & Easy

The website builder that I personally recommend is Showit. It’s the website builder that I use, and that I recommend for service- based creative entrepreneurs and personal brands. This includes bloggers, photographers, coaches, therapists, etc.

Showit is super easy to use and you have so much creative freedom (without having to have previous design experience!). Even if I’m custom designing a website for you, I want you to have the confidence and the know-how to edit your site moving forward.

Real-life Example: Angela Monica

Funny enough, my mom Angela is a real-life example of a business owner who found herself in this situation. She came to me a few years ago feeling completely frustrated. She wanted to start a blog, so she purchased a WordPress theme, and hired a developer to customize it for her.

However, it just wasn’t the right fit for her. She felt completely frustrated each time she logged into WordPress to make changes to her website. Her idea for her branding had changed, and she wanted to go with a different style. But because she was so frustrated with how to edit it, she wasn’t able to go in and make the changes.

She pretty much just gave up on the website. She wasn’t updating it, blogging, or moving her business forward.

When she came to me, I recommended that we do a complete rebrand and create a whole new website on Showit. One neat thing about Showit is that it integrates with WordPress for blogging, so she could still have all of those powerful blogging tools – without the hard to edit site.

#2: Wanting a New Website Because Your Business Has Changed

If your business has changed, and your website now feels outdated, ask yourself:

• What’s changed about my business?
• What are my business goals?
• Is my target audience still the same?
• How well does my current website represent my business and serve my audience?

Solution #1: Keeping Your Current Website, With Some Updates

After asking yourself those questions, you might realize that your business has only changed slightly. Maybe you launched a new course or service, but a lot of other things about your business and brand are the same.

In that case, you probably don’t need a complete website redesign. You can just make some updates to your current site (add pages, change content, etc.), and you should be good to go!

Solution #2: Maybe it’s Time for a New Site

But, if you find that your business has changed a whole lot, maybe:

• Your website hasn’t been updated in years, and is out of date
• You’re trying to reach a whole new audience
• You’re changing the direction of your business

…then it’s probably time for a complete redesign.

Real-life Example: Preston Counseling Services

Janet came to me several years ago in need of a new website. Her website was outdated and hadn’t been updated in years. It had just come to the point where it didn’t reflect what she wanted to put out into the world – it was very dark and moody, and there was a whole lot of text everywhere.

She was looking for something more fresh and modern, that made potential clients feel welcome when they came to her site. In her case, I recommended a complete rebrand and website redesign. We started from scratch, and created a whole new logo, and chose colors and fonts that convey that mood she was going for.

From there, I created a whole new website design using a builder that was easier for her. Her new website was also more user-friendly for her clients, with features she needed – like being able to book appointments online.

#3: Website isn’t Getting Enough Traffic, or the People Visiting Aren’t Taking Action.

In the website world, we call taking action on a website “converting.” Someone who visits your website converts if they take an action like contacting you, buying your product, requesting to book your services, or joining your email list.

We want people to take action because this gets us one step closer to becoming part of our community, and eventually, working with us.

This type of situation can get tricky, because in some cases, you might need a new website. Other times, your content marketing strategy might need tweaking, or your SEO might need to be improved.

The first thing that I’m going to ask when someone says they aren’t getting enough traffic is:

What are you doing to drive people to your site?

That might seem like kind of a weird question, because we often think “I have a website. I’m on the internet. People are going to find me.”

However, with website design, the phrase “if you build it, they will come” doesn’t apply (unfortunately…I wish it did!). You have to be proactive about driving people to your website.

When you hear about people who make a ton of sales or book lots of clients after launching a new site, chances are that they already had a solid marketing strategy in place before hand. They already knew how to drive people to a website, so once they got better website, they had even better results.

If you design a better website, but you don’t already have that marketing strategy in place, it won’t help you as much. Even though that nice website is there, people still aren’t being guided to visit it.

Solution #1: Be Intentional About Driving People to Your Website, and Develop a Marketing Strategy That Works

When it comes to driving traffic to your website, there are lots of things you can do. Here are a few common options:

• Writing blog posts (this provides value by answering your audience’s questions and it helps with SEO)
• SEO Optimization (this helps you get found on Google)
• Social Media Marketing (if you have a big following, you can invite your audience to come to your site to get a freebie, or checkout a course you just launched)

The key is to be doing something to invite people to your website. Learning to do this well does take time – it’s something that I’m still learning in my own business! If this is something that you’re struggling with, know that you’re not alone.

Solution #2: Improving a Site for a Business With a Marketing Strategy That Isn’t Seeing Results

What should you do if your website has already been optimized for SEO, and you’re already doing content marketing, but you’re still not getting a lot of traffic?

• Let’s look at the keywords that you’re using as far as SEO goes, and the topics that you’re creating content about.
• Are those keywords / topics that people are actually searching for?

I know one mistake that I made early on in my business was writing blog posts on topics that weren’t very popular. No one was searching for those topics, so no one was going to find them.

How to fix this:

• Blog about topics that you’re audience is actually asking about
• Learn more about keyword research so that you can rank on Google for keywords that you’re audience is using

Solution #3: Website Improvements or Redesigns for a Website That Has Low Traffic That Isn’t Their Ideal Client

If you’re driving traffic to your site, but you’re not seeing growth, they’re might be a problem with your marketing strategy (like we talked about in solution #2 above).

But if people are coming, but not taking action or “bouncing” (leaving right away), let’s look at both your content and your website design.

When you have a high bounce rate, it could be an indication that:

• The people coming to your website aren’t in your target audience OR
• Your website design doesn’t make it clear right away who you are, who you help, and how you can help them. When this happens, people might not realize that they’re in your target audience.

You want to put out content that attracts your ideal client to your site, and meets their needs. You also want an on-brand site that appeals to your audience, is user friendly, and makes what your business is all about clear.

Depending on what’s causing people to leave, there may be some simple changes that you can make to improve your site. Or, it might be time for a complete redesign.

What Makes a Good Website?

In a nutshell, you want your website to:

• Have content that meets your ideal clients needs in a format that’s easy to skim
• Rank on Google for keywords that your ideal client is searching for
• Be easy to navigate, with optimized layouts on both desktop and mobile
• Be on-brand

Getting a Website Redesign

As you can see, there are times when it’s best to just get a whole new website. Other times, it might not be your website that’s causing the problem.

It really depends on your business’ unique situation. Your website design, marketing strategy, and content marketing will all have an impact on the results that you see with your website.

If you’re considering a website redesign, start by taking an honest look at your business to see what’s working and what’s not.

If the source of the problem is your website design, you can learn more about my custom design services here. Or, if you prefer to go the DIY route, checkout my Showit template shop.