Over the last year, we have seen many outdated websites. They are not user friendly, not suitable for search engines, and lets face it, not attractive (think a website designed in 1999). A website is your company’s face online and because of that, you want to keep it as fresh and up to date as you can. So how do you know if your website needs to be updated? Here are a few things to take into considerations when thinking about if you should update your website:

Is your site mobile friendly?

What does this mean? It means your website is compatible with mobile devices. This is important because so many people are searching on their phones for products and services. Pull up your website on your smartphone and take a look. Is it easy to read and navigate? If not, looking into a mobile site is a good idea. 

Is your site in Flash?

This was a popular platform years ago (and it can look great), but this platform is not recommended because the search engines cannot read it. When Google sees this type of site, it only see large images so it has a hard time figuring out who you are and what you are about. Hence, why a site like this will not rank well in the search engines. 

When is the last time you updated your website?

Here is one indicator that sticks out like a sore thumb: a hit counter. This was awesome in 2001, but makes a website look very outdated. Do you have a blog incorporated on your site? Are you able to go in and make updates as needed? Do you have social media links? These are just a few key items that are useful to have on an up to date site.

Is there additional functionality you want to add to your website?

Have you always wanted an employee portal to post weekly schedules or updates? Or do you wish you could have clients upload large documents using your website (rather than using email?) There are a ton of features when it comes to website add-ons and most of the time, they are reasonably inexpensive.

So you need to update your website, now what?

When you are ready to go forward with the website update, there are a few things to consider. Cost is probably the biggest one. Years ago, website design was more expensive than it is today. Typical costs for a basic website redesign today? Probably between $2000-$4000 depending on what bells and whisles you want included. Another thing to consider is the company who is going to be doing it for you. Are they local? Do they have a portfoloio for you to look through? Talk to them and feel them out.