We’re often asked how often you should update or redesign your website. The answer isn’t as straightforward as you might think. So, to help with this question, here are 6 signs to look for when asking if your practice needs a new website.
Your Site Looks Out of Date
Sometimes, looks do matter. As a matter of fact, 81% of internet users think less of a business if the website is not updated. It’s important your website function seamlessly, but it also needs to look fresh and modern. Compare your website to the websites of your most prominent competitors. While it’s true you should do what’s right for you rather than follow the Joneses, if your design is far behind the quality of your competitors, customers may overlook your practice. Your website’s design is frequently the first or only impression a potential patients may have of your practice - make sure it looks good!
New Patient Volume Has Gone Down
If your website is getting “a little long in the tooth” and you’ve seen significant drop in traffic and leads, you’re clearly not being found. Hopefully you have a good way of tracking how many leads you get from your website. If not, that’s a sign too. If you can track it and you see a trend of sales or leads going down, it’s time to figure out why and make a change.
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Your Site Doesn’t Look Good On a Mobile Device
We’re all guilty of spending a lot of time on our phones. According to Statistica, 52% of all website traffic comes from mobile devices. You want potential customers to have a good experience when they visit your website on their phone or tablet. You also want to do it because Google cares. Google bases its rankings on mobile rather than desktop version of a website. If you have a separate mobile website or a site that does not utilize responsive design, it makes sense to build a new website using a mobile-first approach rather than trying to force it with mobile-friendly elements.
You Have To Pay For Updates
With today’s content management and **web management technology **here’s no reason, other than time or not wanting the hassle yourself, to have to pay a web master an hourly rate to change simple things like product prices, photos in a gallery, adding testimonials or updating information about your services. Making small changes or updates to your site, like adding blog post or updating an event should be easy for anyone on your staff to accomplish. If your website is built on a difficult platform or requires a third party to make even the simplest updates, consider a new website built in an easy-to-use content management system.
People Don’t Stay Long
A successful website is all about pleasing your users. If your website is difficult to navigate and doesn’t offer valuable content, your users will leave. Statistics show 39% of internet users would think twice about using a product or service if the website is not fresh, user friendly and current. Programs like Google Analytics will show you a lot about how people interact with your website. If you’re not tracking Users, Sessions, Page Views, Time on Site and Bounce Rate, now is the time to start.
- Users is how many people came to your website.
- Sessions is how many times they came to your site.
- Page views is how many pages they looked at while on your site.
- Bounce rate tell you how many people didn’t look at more than one page when they came to your site.
If you’re watching these numbers and see them going in the wrong direction then you know it’s time for something fresh and more effective.
Your Content Is Old
Your website is a living, breathing entity on the internet. Every update you make to your website plays a part in an interaction with visitors, customers and search engines. A static website without updates of any kind is viewed by the search engines as “dead”. If your site doesn’t get updated, it’s bad all around. People don’t want to see the same old info and neither does Google. Search engines look at your website more frequently, when you update with content like articles, downloads and new web pages. If you want to keep people interested and Google showing people your website then you need to keep your content fresh and current.
Take the Test
Unsure if you’re website is up to date? Take this 10 question assessment and learn if you’re rockin’ it or can do better with your practice website. If you have any, or lot’s of the above issues don’t stress out. Getting your website updated is easier and more affordable than think. Visit www.doctorlogic.com to learn more.
