7 Signs You Might Be Ready For a New Website

A few days ago I wrote a blog post about my old website. It was outdated, disjointed, confusing, and ultimately keeping me from making money. That alone should have been the slap in the face I needed to build a new website, but instead I kept on trying to move forward with the same site, spinning my wheels and staying stuck where I had been for years. Here are seven other reasons I needed a new site, and why you might need one too.

You’ve recently undergone a major shift in services, style, or values.

There is one thing I tell EVERY prospective client – as your business evolves it’s so, so important to have a brand that matches your values, style, and truly speaks to your ideal client. If you feel that your website is no longer reaching the clients you desire, or if you’ve recently undergone a change in your style of work, it may be time to reevaluate the first impression you’re putting into the world.

You’re trying to attract a different audience.

This follows the last one very closely. Your website should speak directly to the kind of client you’re trying to attract. For example, if you’ve recently moved to the Pacific Northwest and you’re trying to photograph adventurous couples and mountain elopements, you probably don’t want a website that uses pastel colors, bubbly fonts, and displays mostly church and banquet hall weddings.

You’re hesitant to send people to your website or a certain page on your website (IE pricing).

I know it sounds crazy, but this is extremely common, even for experienced business owners. I fell into this category for a while. I was SO embarrased about my pricing page. It was confusing, disjointed, and didn’t provide the information my clients wanted to know. It created more questions than it answered. It got the job done but I cringed every time I pasted that link in an email. That’s not how it should be!

You feel like your website does not reflect the prices you are charging.

As I mentioned before, I was afraid to send my clients to my pricing page. It was partly because it was disorganized, but also partly because my pricing just felt so arbitrary. I didn’t feel proud of my work, and it was difficult to establish trust with clients. There was a major disconnect. 

Your website isn’t giving you the results you need to keep your business running.

My hesitation to send clients to my pricing page, to stand by my rates and the value I was delivering then often created trust issues and made me hesitant to approach clients because when the time came to start a project. There was something subconsciously telling me that I wasn’t worth the prices I was charging. I had a constant fear that the client was going into the project confused and uninformed. Stepping back now I see that this was a completely bonkers way of thinking, but as I’m sure anyone reading this knows, the imposter syndrome is real sometimes!

Your website doesn’t meet current internet standards.

I just googled my name and came across a very, very early website I built for myself. It’s not mobile responsive, it’s not SEO optimized, it’s Flash based (the font is pixelated and blurry, and barely even readable), and the images were all taken from my Instagram account, meaning they’re poor quality and not at all cohesive with any sort of brand I may have had at the time. This is a prime example of what not to do. If this sounds like your website, you most certainly need an upgrade! Did you know Google ranks you partially based on the functionality of your website? Websites that aren’t responsive or mobile friendly will statistically rank lower in a Google search. You might have a beautiful website, but if it doesn’t meet current web standards, it’s hurting you in the long run.

You can’t (or don’t know how to) update your website.

It’s not as common as it used to be, but every now and then I get an inquiry from someone who had their website built by a web developer, and they aren’t able to access to update on their own. You should always be able to update your website, and if you have to pay someone to make every tiny update for you, you 100% need a new website! 

Take it from me. I knew I needed a major website update for a LONG time but I put it off for months, maybe even years. And because of this, I was leaving major money on the table. Tens of thousands of dollars a year.

Think you might be ready for a new website? Let’s start the conversation!

Prefer to go the DIY route? Don’t forget we have 6 templates available in our template shop, plus two FREE templates available directly from the Showit app!