ShareBuilding a website is a HUGE deal. Aside from the fact it can be one of the bigger purchases, it’s also the window into your business and often your customer’s first impression of your brand.
From time to time it can be worth taking an objective look at that window. What does your current site tell your audience about you? If you are experiencing any of the following, it’s time to make that investment.
Failing the Core Web Vitals Assessment
We have been talking about this a lot recently, Google have made big changes to the way they score websites. Although they are rolling it out slower than we had initially been to believe, all it is going to do is give you more time to make sure you pass that Core Web Vitals Assessment, now is the perfect opportunity to take advantage of the additional time. If you haven’t had a chance to read our CWV blogs yet this is what Google are tracking:
- Largest Content Paint – marks the time it takes for the most contentful element is painted
- First Input Delay – the response time to clicks, scrolls or other input
- Cumulative Layout Shift – the movement of visible elements within the viewport
All in all this means Google are very concerned about your website speed so if your site is slow, your SEO is going to suffer. Lower SEO means less visibility and ultimately less leads or greater PPC spend to compensate for your dwindling SEO performance. The way your site is currently built could mean that there are restrictions that will prevent you from making those improvements that are in line with what Google are looking for. In these instances a new website build might just be the answer.
Poor Conversion
You are getting plenty of traffic to your site, that’s fantastic! Not seeing an increase in leads? Not so good! The likelihood is that your User Experience or UX is not where it needs to be. Here, our first recommendation would always be to look at ways to work with what you already have.
The best way to do this is through Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO.) Start with understanding your audience, what are their needs? Why are they coming to your site? Ask them what they want, create surveys and use the results to make educated decisions on what changes should be made. Surveys can be done on the website itself, using tools like or emailed directly to existing clients using email marketing tools.
In some cases, even a dedicated CRO programme won’t be enough. This can be down to your website’s infrastructure and build not being able to support the kind of responsive design initiatives required in CRO, another can be the cost of making changes prohibiting the scope of your CRO. In such instances we would recommend a new website build.
As part of your new website build you can dedicate time to identifying current pain points on your site. A great way to do this is with User Research and specifically, Biometric Testing. Using the latest in Eye Tracking, Facial Recognition and Galvanic Skin Response technology, you can see how your site provokes your audience and the emotional response it creates. Using this insight to identify which pain points can be removed to improve the overall experience and importantly, conversions.
You Changed
Even before we were dealing with a Global Pandemic that forced businesses to change the way they work, we were all reviewing and adapting our business models in response to the changing needs of our customers. At any point did you look at how that change was communicated on your site. Are the messages, calls to action and “brand voice” up to date with these changes? Or possibly even worse, have you been making tweaks as you have gone along which means you are giving a confused presentation without realising? If you have changed your brand visually as well, your website will need to reflect that. sometimes you can add your new logo and make some colour changes using CSS but if your new brand incorporates specific design features or motifs, then a new website can be sensible to support your branding campaign and ensure consistency.
And these are just the tip of the iceberg! If any of this is resonating with you then take a look at our blog on how to write a new website brief, then let us handle the rest.