You’d be hard-pressed to come across a business, in todays age, that does not have their own website. However, just because a company has a website, does not mean it will be a very successful one. With technology moving so quickly, knowing how and when to give your company website a makeover might not be as intuitive as one may think.

But when is the right time to begin the rebuilding process? And how do you know your website is due for a tune up?

My best advise is as soon as you ask yourself,"Should I update my website?" Is the exact moment you need to start planning to do so.

THE REAL SHELF-LIFE OF A WEBSITE AS CONCLUDED BY SCIENCE (SORT OF)

“It depends” never really satisfies anyone, so let’s get a little more concrete. While there may not be a definitive answer, there is data out there that shows how often the best companies redesign their sites. Orbit Media searched for the answer and determined it was every 2.66 years, which is less than they thought it would be. Now, take this with something of a grain of your favorite tiny particle (sand, salt, etc.). This data is only looking at one very specific industry, and it’s an industry that arguably needs to be a little more aggressive about having a website with the latest and greatest look and feel.

Or maybe not. Regardless of your industry, a website’s shelf-life is relatively short. Look at how fast technology moves. Six years ago, almost no one visited your website on a mobile device. Now, over half your traffic is from smart phones. Mobile aside, trends change fast. During the past few years we’ve seen incredible evolution on the web. Things have gotten cleaner and more complex at the same time. Now we have responsive, parallax, lock screen, giant navigation, and dozens of other technologies and trends. If your old website is in some archaic fixed-width container, you might as well go in the corner along with those mobile unfriendly folks.

WATCH OUT FOR THE WARNING SIGNS

It takes people an average of 30 seconds to judge and form an opinion about another person or business. That being said perception is reality. You have to ask your self a few questions.

1.) Does my website professionally represent my company and brand does it look modern?
2.) Does it show up correctly on all devices and browsers and is it mobile and tablet friendly?
3.) Is your website intuitive and user-friendly?
4.) Are you using social share buttons on your site?
5.) Has it been more then 3yrs since you last updated your website?

1.) Does my website professionally represent my company and brand?
It is important to note that we use the internet to do most of our research. When we go to a store typically we already browsed the internet to inform ourselves on a product or service and already know what we want. Having that been said and going back to perception being reality, if your website looks out of date or unprofessional or gives a insecure feel, your potential users/customers/clients will perceive that vibe about your company. I always refer to looking at a restaurant that is dirty on the outside but best cleanest food inside. Would you walk in comfortably the first time ready to order? After all your website is your sales person 24 hrs a day 7 days a week.

2.) Does it show up correctly on all devices and browsers and is it mobile and tablet friendly?
If your website represents you professionally the next step is to view it on different devices such as tablets and phones. As this avenue is a rapidly growing sector of how people are browsing your website. If they cannot navigate your site with ease they will head elsewhere. The same goes for browsers such as Explorer, Firefox, Chrome Safari etc. Your site needs to be easily available and navigable for your users. It would be a shame to lose a customer before you even had one due to a non-mobile friendly website.

3.) Is your website intuitive and user-friendly?
How many times have you been attempting to navigate a website to the point of frustration? This is a feeling you never want to impose upon your website visitors. Making your site easy to zip around in is a must. The one thing professionals never have enough of is time. Don’t make your website visitors waste any of theirs on a site that does not flow well.

4.) Are you using social share buttons on your site?
Make sure your site is easily shareable on social media platforms you are already taking the time to utilize. There is no easier way for people to share your content with others then to simply hit a button.

5.) Has it been more then 3yrs since you last updated your website?
If so, this is a good indicator to start seriously considering a refresh. As rapidly as technology changes, so does the way people navigate through their day to day and get used to different standards. This also applies to Search Engines and the way they will produce search results.