Think you need a website refresh?  Stop here first.

Does a website age out?  Yes, it can.  But like a good athlete, if you stay in shape and continually evolve your game, you can still be winning grand slams at 40 (we see you Roger Federer).  A refresh to your website doesn’t need to be a full-scale overhaul.  If your site is underperforming, you may indeed need to make changes, but how big those changes need to be are based on the current state of the site.

I remember the first website I helped a company with.  It wasn’t just a website refresh, it was the first venture online for a decades-old company.  It was in the late 90’s.  The internet was a different thing back then.  Having an “online brochure” was standard and how most businesses started.  But even back then, we all knew that wasn’t enough.

Today, your website should be dynamic.  It’s constantly changing – whether you’re posting your latest blog, adding a landing page to support a campaign, or posting a job description to hire your next great salesperson. 

Related content: Is your website designed for B2B interactions?

We’re in the middle of reviewing multiple websites for a client.  As we help them narrow down their messaging, we want to be sure the sites convey it.  We won’t recommend they refresh their website if it doesn’t need it, so we look to find those things most in need of attention – and celebrate the ones that are on point.  Below are the things we look for when reviewing a website:

• Overall appearance: does the site look modern, appealing, and visually reflect your brand?
• Home page messaging: is it clear and consistent with priority messaging for your target audience? Does it have a clear call to action?
• Second level page messaging: is it clear and consistent with the messaging needed along the sales funnel? Does it have a clear call to action?
• Main navigation: can users easily navigate to the main sections of your website from the (usually top) navigation? Does it have a clear call to action? (Are you seeing a pattern here?)
• Primary call to action: have you made it clear to people what you want them to do? Is the process easy?  Is it relevant and compelling to the people you want to hear from?
• Contact us: is it easy for people to contact you without initiating a sale? This might be required for things like support, career opportunities, media inquiries etc.
• Social media: if you have social media accounts that are active, can people connect to them from your website?
• Blog and other content: do you add new content on a consistent basis and does it support the messages along your customer journey?
• Browser compatibility: does your website display well on all the major browsers on both mobile and desktop?
• Site tracking: everything from Google Analytics to tracking code for different social media platforms are an important investment for any business whose website is an important part of their sales funnel.
• Site speed: both visitors and Google are happier when your site loads quickly. You can test this easily and free with the Google PageSpeed Insights

Notice none of the bullet points above say SEO.  That starts to get a bit more complex and can bring in lots of different factors – maybe a different blog for a different time.  I will add though, that good content with messaging that is focused on your audience should always be front and center in any SEO conversation you have.  So, reviewing all those pages for their message appropriateness will help.

If you’re looking at a website refresh, start by reviewing your current site for all of these things.  You might see that you’re doing pretty well and can make a few small tweaks that have a big impact.