It’s a general rule of thumb to update a site every two to three years (if not more often) to keep up with modern art and design techniques, and even advancing technologies. This applies to company logos well. Art and design advances, what looked good in the early 2000s doesn’t necessarily look good anymore. As cool as studded belts were and as popular as Sperry’s were, in the digital world, some styles change. What sometimes changes even faster is technology. After all, it was in the past 10 years that mobile websites have become more popular.
But... does it look good?
To put it simply, how does it look? You can clearly tell the difference between a website that was made in 1999, 2009, and 2019. Whether it be the colors, the graphics, or the font, make sure your content is modern with the times. This means white space is a good thing! In today’s design world, less is more and the minimalistic thing is all the rage. So, don’t feel as though you have to cover the entire screen in colors and photo collages, like the white space sing!
Speaking of being modern, have fun with fonts. Not saying to grab hold of Comic Sans and go crazy (that font is very ‘90s), but also don’t feel the need to stick to Arial and all her cousins. Find new web-safe fonts that speak to your brand.
Photos should be real.
Stock photos can come in handy for a lot of things. If you’re selling winter products while being based out of southern California, stock photos can be useful… However, it’s best to skip the stock photos all together and hire a photographer to get on the ground and get real pictures. A photographer may seem like an added cost, but in the end, you will make you more money than had you used stock photos. Real photography will make you a trustworthy brand with legitimate credibility.
Your logo doesn’t fit the times.
Your website can be spot on and modern, but if your logo is still the one you made back on day one twenty years ago, it can stick out like a sore thumb. As websites grow and change, so can your logo. It’s important to keep some brand recognition, but that doesn’t mean you can’t experiment with something new.
Do you even have keywords?
If your site isn’t rocking the keywords, your SEO isn’t up to stuff, resulting in low rankings on search engines. Update your website copy, make it more modern in the ways of searchable technology, and start working on getting that ranking up!
You’ve got social media…right?
As much as you may think Facebook is a waste of time or that Instagram is just full-on influencers, you have to be on social media. In the world today, social media accounts give you credibility and make you more personable. Users can interact with you more freely and they can seek feedback from other customers in the way of reviews, comments, likes, and other interactions. The younger the generations get, the more they turn to find companies through social media and then following through on their website, rather than the other way around. So, be sure to link your website to your social media accounts and vice versa.
Say my name, say my name…
Be proud of your URL! And if you’re not, why not change it? A URL should be fast and easy to remember (and easy to type out). Make your URL as close to your company name as possible and don’t make it too long. You want to be able to share it easily on social media, business cards, and the like. Also, it is best to keep your email accounts to your company name (example@yourcomany.com) or to a reputable server like Gmail. As much as you love your AOL email account from 1995, you may want to think about switching to Gmail, if only for business purposes.
Don’t feel bad if your website needs a few of these fixes. Time changes faster than ever now. It’s important to keep on top of coming and going trends! And if your website doesn’t need any of these changes? Don’t worry, it will need changes eventually, so you keep track of trends too!
