By 
Let’s face it: If your small business website is outdated, looks unprofessional, or doesn’t meet the needs of current users, you’re probably losing money and driving new customers away every day. If you’re like most small businesses, you’ve already invested a considerable amount of time and/or money into your website, so you need your site to work FOR your business, rather than against it. If it’s time for you to take an honest look at your website, here are eight signs to help you determine if your site needs an extreme makeover:
The site is image-based, Flash-based, or contains excessive graphics. The biggest problem with these types of sites is that they are invisible to search engines and cannot be effectively read or indexed by the search “bots” that visit the site. Another problem with these sites is that they are nearly impossible to update internally, and even the smallest change requires your graphic designer to re-image the page. Instead, use standards-based content and be careful with images. That way, the site is much easier to maintain in the future, search engines can see your content, and the page will also download faster for your visitors.
The site has the same information it had a year ago, six months ago, or even a month ago, and nothing ever changes. What is the incentive for your visitors to return to your website if they have already seen what is there? Why would users want to reread the same information that was there the last time they visited? If your site is sitting there with nothing new, it’s definitely time for a change. Create new content for your site or reuse your other marketing materials as content on your site. Update it regularly with interesting and useful content and it will give your visitors and search engines a reason to come back to your site and take notice of what you have to offer.
It’s about you, and nothing about them. Visitors don’t really care much about your company, but they do care a lot about your ability to solve their problems. If your site is packed with content that talks about your company, its history, how the owner got started, how their products are developed, how good their service is, etc., you miss the point. People visit your website to see if your business can help them solve their problems, so you need to focus on how your products and services meet their needs, solve their problems, and bring them BENEFITS.
The site looks unprofessional or amateurish in design. You may be able to save a few bucks by having your neighbor’s cousin design your website, but it’s not worth the negative effect it has on web visitors and potential customers. It takes visitors less than four seconds to form an impression of your site and decide whether they should stay and explore what you have to offer, or click the “back” button and visit your competition. Do not represent your business with a website that appears amateurish or contains unprofessional web elements such as hit counters, time/date stamps, or template-based designs; these can send your leads directly to the competition and cost you considerably more in the long run. to run.
The site is difficult to use or has inconsistent navigation. Website ease of use is critical to converting visitors into customers, and if your site is confusing to use, your visitors will simply give up and go somewhere else. Make sure your navigation system is consistent across all pages of your site, and that the pages are well organized, making it easy to find information. Users should always be able to find their way back to the home page or other key pages, and nothing should be more than 2-3 clicks away from the home page.
The site is a “static” website, with no interactivity or up-to-date features. In the age of social networking, web widgets, mobile messaging, and web video, today’s users expect to have at least some level of interactivity on the sites they visit. At the very least, try to include a blog on your site, an interactive online calendar, or a photo gallery. Use the web 2.0 features that make sense for your target market (for example, insurance sites that offer instant quotes, customer service pages with how-to videos, etc.), but offer your visitors more than just static web pages. like brochures. .
The site is not integrated with anything else useful. (Also related to “static” sites, above.) The most useful sites today are the ones that offer users additional value beyond the website itself. Integrate your website with your blog, and with your social media profiles on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. Use email campaigns and ezines that direct recipients to specific landing pages on your site with information about special offers or coupons. Use online response forms and surveys that give users an easy way to give you feedback.
The site cannot be found in search engines. If your website can’t be found in search engines today, it’s definitely a red flag. There are many reasons why the site may not be listed; such as a Flash-based image or architecture, incorrect coding and non-standards-based practices, insufficient inbound links, or incorrect keyword densities, just to name a few. But search engine visibility is critical to the success of most businesses, so if your site can’t be found in search engines, it may definitely be time to consider an extreme makeover!