Is your website a slick, conversion-driving machine? Does it bring you a constant stream of new business that is keeping your ecommerce stock levels low or your service bookings in high demand?
For those of you who just saw tumbleweed wallow past your screens, fear not. Just like decorating trends or hairstyles, there comes a point when every website has had its day. The key is to know when it’s time to jump ship with a brand new, expertly designed and built website to replace your current offering.
You’re in the right place for that, as here at Imaginaire, we spend most of our time building and maintaining websites for our clients.
So here are 15 signs that your business needs a new website… stat!
Your business doesn’t actually have a website
Arthur Conan Doyle (the Sherlock bloke) once proclaimed: “There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact."
Well, this is also true about businesses that are sans website.
Contrary to popular belief, a Facebook page isn’t a substitute for a website.
Likewise, word of mouth can be useful for businesses, but it often means you’re leaving all of your digital leads on the table.
Furthermore, if you sell products in a physical store, having an online store can expand your customer base from the local area to anywhere in the country. Potentially, even anywhere in the world.
There are lots of business types out there. But there are also many reasons why having a professional website to represent your business can be a very valuable asset.
Believe us when we say that businesses which don’t currently have a website are missing out. From collecting leads via a contact form to making the most of SEO and PPC, it all needs a website to happen.
To generate more money for your business
That’s a big, bold and punchy claim. So how do we figure that out?
Think about it. The purpose of most websites is to generate income for a business. Whether that’s through direct purchase through the website itself, or to encourage leads for a service provided.
The simple truth is that some websites have been built in a way that means they are limiting the potential of the business. Sometimes, business owners don’t even realise it!
For instance, when you can’t add the features you need to sell products. Or when the template is too slow to load and it can’t be fixed. In some cases, the domain name really sucks, meaning your site was doomed from the start.
The list goes on and on and on. We’ve seen it all!
If you have reached a point where you can’t expand your business in the way that you need and it’s the fault of your website, you know that change needs to happen fast.
Your website doesn’t display properly on mobile devices
At the time of writing, mobile traffic captures 68% of the market share compared to just 29% on desktop. Every year, mobile’s audience share increases further still.
This matters because unless a website is built to be responsive, it won’t display properly on mobile devices.
Even if a website is responsive, it still requires a separate design for mobile alongside desktop. Both versions of the site need to be designed and built well; otherwise, they will impact conversions.
Go ahead and open your business’s website up right now on your phone. Do you like what you see? Or is it time for a professional to fix that for you?
Security concerns
Nobody is going to buy from a website they don’t trust. Unfortunately, security concerns often justify a full rebuild rather than a patch because vulnerabilities are frequently baked into outdated architecture, unsupported CMS versions or legacy code that no longer receives security updates.
A rebuild allows the site to move onto a current, actively maintained platform with modern security standards built in from the start, such as proper encryption, secure authentication and regular vendor patching.
It also removes accumulated technical debt, old plugins and unused code that widen the attack surface.
For businesses handling customer data or payments, a new site that is fully compliant with the latest security measures reduces the risk of breaches, downtime and reputational damage.
Your company branding or positioning has changed
Businesses don’t just stand still. They evolve with changing trends, customer demands or simple opportunities.
Takeovers and mergers also happen, meaning a business may no longer offer exactly what it once did. Or, there may be a need to appeal to a different audience and so on.
Whatever the major change, your website should be a reflection of where your business is now, not where it was a decade ago. Therefore, knowing when to commission a new website is crucial.
It’s been more than 3 years since your site was built
Granted, websites don’t have fixed expiration dates. But given how technology is constantly evolving, it stands to reason that after a certain time, the way a website has been built or designed may be considered outdated.
3 years is a long time in technology, even for the very devices we view said websites on. At the very least, websites need regular updates to ensure they are safe and secure to use, not to mention speedy to load.
If you can’t remember what year your website was built in and it hasn’t had any major updates in the last few years, a new website is probably long overdue.
Your website was built using free or basic tools
Free website builders like GoDaddy or Wix are fun to play with as a hobby. But a certain proverbial can soon hit the fan when you realise they aren’t going to give you what you need to truly grow your business. Most of these free tools don’t even come with support!
Hey, we all have to start somewhere. But now your business is actually starting to grow; your website needs to be supporting this growth, not suppressing it.
After all, nothing screams untrustworthy websites like messages such as ‘this website was built using a free builder.’ Instead, it’s time to step up with a professional, custom-built site that is made with your business in mind.
Frustrating CMS or platform experience
There are so many platforms out there that allow you to build a website. The problem is, you’ve got to know which one is right for you.
You’ve also got to know when you’ve outgrown your current platform. Likewise, when your platform doesn’t offer you the features or benefits that a competitor would and so on.
It's also the case with most websites that many people need to access your website to maintain and edit it. When content won’t publish properly or dev help is needed to work around what should be a simple change, you’ve got a problem on your hands.
Now is the time to see what else is out there and whether your current setup is the right fit.
You are embarrassed by your current website
Listen. A website should be something you are proud to link to on your socials and where applicable, print the URL on signage or business cards.
Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon to see that business owners are reluctant to share their site because they don’t think it professionally represents their brand. Whether the site is only half built or looks like something that was made in Microsoft Paint, it’s just not doing your business any justice.
A new website is the perfect opportunity to incorporate every idea and function that your online presence needs, so that you are confident enough to shout about it from the rooftops.
Poor conversion rates
A conversion rate measures how many users who visit your website take a conversion-driven action (i.e. making a purchase).
But for conversions to happen, your website needs to be saying the right things to the right people in the right ways.
Lots of reasons can be behind a disappointing conversion rate, such as:
- Lack of reviews, testimonials or social proof
- No visible trust signals (security badges, clear contact details or company info)
- Outdated design that looks unprofessional or untrustworthy
- No case studies or evidence of past results (B2B especially)
- Unclear value proposition
- Multi-step processes that could be simplified
- No clear next step after the CTA is clicked
It can be possible to make changes to an existing site to improve the conversion rate. However, when things are really bad, it often makes sense to start again with a brand new strategy.
Nobody has been maintaining your site, and it’s now beyond help
You wouldn’t not water a plant. But you’d be surprised how many people pay a lot of money for a new website, only to leave it to gather dust by never updating or maintaining it.
A huge giveaway here is when the copyright disclaimer at the end of the page is a date from like five years ago. You may as well hold a giant banner up for hackers at this rate, because you can pretty much guarantee your site is vulnerable to endless security issues.
Now, it may possible to update things and get your site secure and most importantly, conversion-driven again. But, this isn’t always the case. Depending on how outdated things are, a new site may be the best course of action.
You want to expand your offering (i.e. start selling products) through your website
Some websites are geared towards sharing news, while others are built around ecommerce. It’s fine to have a niche, but if you plan on changing what your website offers, your existing setup may no longer be compatible.
Beyond the functionality of how different types of sites work, there can also be a need to comply with endless security and privacy laws. These can all differ based on the nature of the website and what it offers.
It’s really important that your site adapts to any changes by being rebuilt, especially if what you want to achieve just isn’t possible within your current setup.
For example, a WordPress blog is a million miles away from a Shopify ecommerce store. You can’t just wave a magic wand and force one to become another, since they are geared towards very different things.
To gain more autonomy over your business’s digital presence than social media platforms can give you
You know you don’t own your company Facebook page or Instagram account, right?
Not only do you not own it, but you also don’t control it. Social media platforms can also be closed or restricted at a moment’s notice.
However, a website is different as it offers you a slice of the internet’s real estate that is yours. You can control what is on the site in terms of how it looks and the search engine terms (SEO) it’s optimised for.
You can even build forms or get customers to sign up to your email list, plus much more.
Social media has many benefits for businesses. But it doesn’t replace the professional web presence that a website can give you, especially if it has been built properly.
To gain independent expertise
Websites are complicated beings and it’s impossible to perfect everything alone.
It’s quite common for a business owner who doesn’t have any design or copywriting expertise to try and build and shape their own website. In cases where you are just starting out and there’s no budget to hire a professional, we get it.
But there comes a point when you really need an outsider’s perspective, not to mention expertise to point you in the right direction. This is to ensure your website is actually attracting and converting leads.
If you don’t have an agency to oversee the building and general management of your site, it’s impossible to know if you’re doing things in the best way. From your choice of headings to the colours used on your site, every aspect needs careful consideration.
In some cases, a website is just beyond help. If so, starting fresh with a new website offers the most logical solution.
Bonus final reason: Your website wasn’t built by Imaginaire
No smooth operators around here; we’ll leave that up to Sade. That said, coast to coast, LA to Chicago (or indeed, a bit closer to Imaginaire’s HQ here in Nottingham), we’re here to help! Namely, we can fix all of the above website headaches we’ve just discussed and more.
All you have to do is let us know more about your website, its struggles and most importantly, your goals. You can do so by booking your free discovery call with us today.
Don’t delay in getting the website your business deserves. At Imaginaire, we’ll give you a multifaceted approach with design, development, SEO, PPC and project management all working together to get your business on track.
If you can relate to any of the above signs, we look forward to hearing from you so we can get to work on fixing that for you!
