Do You Need a New Website? 5 Signs It’s Time

People often approach a new website much like they approach the thought of a new car: some love the thrill of switching to a sleek new machine, while others prefer to ride the old model they have into the ground.

But while your car is for driving you to work and the gym, your website is for driving patients to your practice. If you’re not providing your website visitors what they need in the ways and timeframes they expect, many will drop you and look elsewhere without a second thought. 

Even worse, Google and other search engines know the fickle nature of online traffic, and will often penalize obsolete websites in their search rankings.

On average, it is recommended that you refresh your website every couple years.

The approach you should take, as well as your timeframe, will largely depend on how your website currently stands.

But you don’t always need us to tell you when it’s time for a change. Here are some clear signs that you may need a new website.

1. Your Website Looks or Runs Awful on Mobile

This one is vital. Ignore at your peril.

Nowadays, website visits come from people using phones, tablets, and other mobile devices. If your website is not adaptive and responsive to smaller screens, it will take a big bite out of your potential business.

What do we mean by “adaptive and responsive”? The website should be able to recognize what it is being viewed on and adjust its size and format accordingly. Some older websites have a static “mobile mode,” but that just isn’t enough anymore. It may look good on some things but be a broken mess on others. 

Google’s Page Experience Update, slated to be fully active by the end of August 2021, places more emphasis on mobile performance than ever before, and that emphasis is only expected to increase over time. Do not get caught out.

2. Your Website’s Pages Load Slowly

You can get the direct data from various load time website tools if you want, but you can sense it yourself when trying to load your pages as well.

If it’s taking more than a few seconds for your pages to load, that might as well be an eternity to many website visitors. Most will move elsewhere within that time frame.

Google considers fast loading speeds a high priority in search ranking factors. If your site is loading slowly, it may be possible that some changes to layout and images may significantly help. Other times, however, an update to the backend is necessary.

We recommend using a third party tool – GT Metrix – to gauge the overall performance of your site’s load time.

3. Your Website’s Bounce Rate is High

“Bounce rate,” which can be found through Google Analytics, is the percentage of visitors to your website who arrive at a page for a short time and then leave. They take no action on the page, such as filling out a form or clicking to a new page on your website, and Google notices.

Although a few pages (like “thank you” pages after someone fills out a form) are expected to have high bounce rates, consistently seeing them elsewhere can be a red flag that visitors are not finding what they’re looking for or not receiving it quickly/easily enough (see the section on Load Times above).

Seeing bounce rates higher than 70% across your website is a sign that something needs to change.

4. Your Website is Outdated or No Longer Represents Your Practice’s Branding

In the online world, looks matter – both to how people interpret the usefulness of your website and whether they even associate what they’re seeing with your practice.

If your website looks like it came out of 2010, many visitors are going to expect the information on it to be of a similar age and quality, even if it’s brand new.

Additionally, the branding your website displays is also key to how your visitors connect the information they see with the need to contact you for an appointment. If your website is not up to date with your current practice name, information, logos, and color scheme, you may likely lose potential patients who don’t recognize who you are.

5. Conversions Are Down

Have you seen your emails, contact form completions, and calls to your office dwindle over time? An outdated website might be to blame. 

Your website might be receiving high traffic, but poor responsiveness, confusing navigation, or a simple lack of calls to action can be denying you of more leads. A new or updated website can empower your online presence and drive more visitors toward becoming patients.

And if you don’t know how well your website is converting visitors into leads, you’re missing some crucial information! Let us help you find it.

Is it time for a New Website?

If you feel it may be time for a new website, you should probably trust your gut on that. Odds are you’re right. And if you aren’t fully sure, we can provide you with the straight facts on where your current website excels and where it is coming up short. 

A new website is an opportunity to boost your presence and online marketing effectiveness. You want to make sure it covers the bases both for what potential patients are expecting and how Google sees your strength in search rankings. 

You want a new website that gives you the best there currently is to offer; able to stay strong for at least several years instead of continuing to dwindle in marketing power like old websites always do.

The experts at VMD Services can help you achieve that goal. We will learn more about your current website, your practice’s goals, and your ideal patients. With data in hand, we’ll provide sound recommendations for a newer and better online home.

Ready to get started? Schedule a consultation with our experts by filling out our online contact form. We look forward to talking with you!