Digital Ohana
Most business owners don't look at their own website very often. It went up a few years ago, it seemed fine at the time, and there's always something more urgent to deal with. Meanwhile, customers are visiting it every day, mostly on their phones, and deciding in a few seconds whether to call you or the next business on the list.
We work with local businesses in Las Vegas and Hawaii, and we see the same problems over and over. None of them are dramatic. They just quietly cost you calls. Here are seven signs it might be time for a new website. Grab your phone and check along with us.
1. It's slow on phones
Open your site on your phone using cellular data, not Wi-Fi. Count how long it takes before you can actually read something and tap a button. If you find yourself waiting, so are your customers, and many of them won't wait.
For a second opinion, run your address through Google's free PageSpeed Insights tool. Pay attention to the mobile results, since that's how most people will find you.
2. Customers can't tap to call
Your phone number should be a link. Tap it on your phone and it should open the dialer, ready to go. If the number is plain text, or worse, part of an image, people have to memorize it or copy it by hand. Some will. Plenty won't.
The same goes for your address. Tapping it should open directions.
3. The copyright year or events are out of date
Scroll to the bottom. If the footer says © 2021, or your homepage still promotes a holiday special from two years ago, visitors notice. It makes them wonder whether you're still open, and whether the hours and prices on the page are still right.
4. The map is broken or missing
Embedded maps break more often than you'd think. Sometimes they show an error, sometimes a gray box, sometimes the wrong location entirely. For a business people visit in person, a working map and a tap-for-directions link are not optional.
5. Your page titles say "Home"
Look at the tab at the top of your browser when your site is open. If it just says "Home" or the name of your website builder, that's the same text Google often shows in search results. A good page title says what you do and where, like "Plumbing Repair in Henderson, NV | Your Business Name." It's a small fix that helps both Google and the people scanning their results.
6. It's hard to update
If changing your hours means emailing someone, waiting a week, or logging into a dashboard you're afraid to touch, your site will fall out of date. That's how the problems in this list pile up. Updating a phone number or a price should be quick and painless, whether you do it yourself or someone does it for you.
7. There's no clear next step
Imagine you're a new customer landing on your homepage. What are you supposed to do? Call? Book? Request a quote? If the answer isn't obvious within a few seconds, and repeated on every page, people leave without doing anything.
Every page should have one clear action, and it should be easy to do with a thumb.
How did your site do?
If you checked off one or two of these, a few targeted fixes may be all you need. If you checked off four or more, it's usually cheaper and faster to start fresh than to keep patching an old site.
That's a big part of why we build custom-coded websites instead of using page builders. They load fast on phones, they don't need constant plugin updates, and every page is designed around getting the customer to call, book or ask for a quote. You can see the details on our website development page and our pricing page.
Get a free site audit
Not sure where your site stands? We'll take a look for you. Our free site audit is a plain-English list of what's costing you calls and what to fix first. No jargon, no pressure, and you keep the audit whether you work with us or not.
