Top 10 signs that you need a new website
Think you need a new website? Here's 10 ways of knowing for sure if you need a redesign.
- Your footer says "Last Updated June 1999", that's fairly self explanatory.
- You have a contact us link with a large animated rotating envelope icon. They may have been popular in the mid 90's but that was 10 years ago. And if you have one of those "under construction" images with a flashing roadwork sign then don't bother reading on, you need a new site now!
- You're using frames. Bad for usability, bad for accessibility and bad for search engine friendliness.
- Your footer says "Designed for Internet Explorer" or "Best viewed at 800x600 resolution". Don't discriminate against certain users, your site should work no matter what browser your visitors is using. You wouldn't have a sign on your shop door saying "Best viewed by people wearing blue jackets".
- You have the <blink> tag somewhere in your code, annoyingly used in the 90's
- You have a visible hit counter telling your visitors they are the 43rd visitor since 1999. Why are you giving away valuable marketing information to your competitors, why do they need to know how successful or not your site is. Statistics are great but should be for your eyes not your visitors.
- Your images are all bmp files and take ages to load even on broadband. Optimise your images as jpg, gif or png files to make your site load faster and don't use unnecessary images just for the sake of it.
- You've got background music... why? You'll probably have lost half of your visitors within about 2 seconds.
- You have an icon telling visitors you won a "best homepage" award from some unknown company.
- Your website is hosted with Geocities or an alternative "free" host who are so kind they've given you some "free" webspace and all you have to do is include a whole load of popups and ad banners. Don't do it.
So if you need a redesign get a quote
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