Outdated Web Design is Killing Your Business – Here’s How to Fix It

It is hard to imagine that something you just designed a few years ago, or even a couple of years ago, could already need a makeover. But the world of online marketing evolves overnight, and what was trendy for websites in the early 2010s is already starting to look outdated and out of touch to consumers. At SOAP Media, fresh web design is one way we can help you continue to appeal to your growing customer base.

Your Navigation Is Probably Wrong

There are two big mistakes that website owners make when it comes to navigation. The biggest is making your navigation unintuitive. Are there too many options? Is your navigation hidden in a sliding side bar that doesn’t immediately show up? Can visitors find what they need with a glance? If not, then you are likely losing potential sales left and right. Your website should have all of the most important navigation where it can be easily seen, and your internal linking strategy should be strong.

The second problem that many people make with navigation is trying to mimic mobile systems on their desktop site. Yes, those hamburger drop-down menus are often required to keep a mobile site looking uncluttered. But those tiny buttons get lost in a big desktop page, and that makes it hard for visitors to find the navigation at all. Although the hamburger menu has shown to be extremely beneficial for some website designs. For example, websites that are trying to show a large image or a video.

Your Design-to-Content Ratio Is Probably Wrong

In the early 2010s, it was common to see very over-designed websites. Full-screen background videos, home page image carousels, flash intros on the landing page, and other fancy design elements were cool because we were just learning how to really implement all those things. These days, however, those tricks have become a dime a dozen, and most users are going to click away because of the time it takes to get past the gimmicks.

Visitors should be getting as much helpful, high-quality content as possible. Your design-to-content ratio should be very bottom heavy, with all of your efforts going towards optimizing your website for content. Design falls into place when you consider the nature of your content.

Your Color Scheme is Probably Right!

Here’s one trend from the previous decade that is still a solid bit of advice: only use three, maybe four, colors overall on your website. Gone are the rainbow-covered pages of the 90s; these days, branding rules that apply in the real world are also the best strategy for your online branding as well. In this case, you are likely doing it right if your brand has had any kind of update in the last 20 years.

If your website hasn’t been updated in the past year, it’s very likely that you are just a tad out of date – and even a bit will be noticeable by the tech-savvy visitors that are at your door. We can help you refresh your website strategy with website design that is made to impress. Learn more about our services here!