Reasons why your business needs a new website

Websites are not static things; they are a dynamic part of your company and the actual storefront for all of your online customers. Most companies acknowledge the importance of upkeep on their brick and mortar branches, websites often aren’t given the same consideration. Your website should constantly evolve to keep up with current standards, trends, and the functionality your clients deserve. We often don’t realize what opportunities we are missing and what we are leaving on the table by relegating website maintenance to the bottom of the list.

If you are still on the fence about committing to a new website, here are the top reasons your company needs one!

You need an easier-to-use CMS

See if this sounds familiar: you log on to update your website. You’re behind in changes since you’re the only one in your company who understands the antiquated web platform that the site was built on ten years ago. You go to add an image to your banner, only to realize that the 3rd party widget you’ve been using all that time has finally stopped being supported and no longer works. You cry quietly before spending the rest of your day seeking out a new version of the old thing, just to find it less functional than the original. Repeat this process every few months.

There are so many reasons you need a better Content Management System for your site. A good CMS will save you time, make your job easier, and allow you to better engage with your clients. You should have a tiered access system in place so that more of your employees can access what they need when they need it and help keep the site up-to-date. You shouldn’t be spending all your time just making sure your site is minimally functional. You don’t just need a better CMS; you deserve one.

Your website needs better security

For many businesses, websites are their lifeblood. They are incredibly appealing targets for hackers, phishing attacks, and hijackings. 43% of cyber-attacks directly target small businesses. A security breach could set you back time, money, and the essential goodwill of your customers. You need to protect your business’s reputation and your clients’ personal information. You need secure hosting and guaranteed tech support to prevent breaches from happening in the first place. You are vulnerable if you don’t have a website with current security standards in place and a web development partner to help you keep them up to date.

You need to integrate your eCommerce functions better

For the customer, sales through your website should be as simple as possible. You don’t want to send people jumping through hoops for every purchase. And while it’s likely that you use a third-party vendor to handle your transactions, that doesn’t have to mean you are sending your clients away from your site. Your eCommerce functions should integrate seamlessly into your website to provide the best purchasing experience. This isn’t always the easiest thing to accomplish, but here’s where a web development partner who has experience integrating systems can be especially beneficial. Working with an invested development partner to help understand your sales process and how it can work within your site is essential.

Your website needs a brand refresh

While you are likely past the Geocities stage of your website’s design, there is the possibility that your design is outdated. Websites are not meant to be timeless. Conventions and expectations change regularly and chances are good that your audience has an innate sense of what’s current. A good site design will incorporate your brand and increase awareness while looking fresh. The front-end design of your site isn’t just superficial. It shows your customers and clients that you are self-aware and committed to remaining relevant. Importantly, it limits customers' unconscious biases and helps them feel more confident about spending time and money with your business.

Your Content Management System should be actually managing your content

A good CMS is the keeper of your content. Content that costs you money to create, brings users to your site, and is a valuable resource for your business. Your content is crucial! Does your current CMS adequately manage it? Ask yourself: 

• Is your content organized in a clear and easy-to-access manner? Can you extend and adapt your content structure?
• Can you find what you need when cross-promoting content on social media? 
• Can your users easily find what they need? 
• If you wanted to monetize your content, could you do that in your current site?
• If you wanted to redesign your site, would you be forced to migrate your content?
• If you decided to expand your audience, would you be able to translate your content into different languages?

If you don’t have answers to those questions (or aren’t satisfied with the answers you have), then it’s time to look for better options. You need a CMS that doesn’t cause you to second guess where you stand with your content.

Want to see what this looks like in practice? Check out how Habitat Magazine monetized its content and increased revenues through its site.

Your website should be saving you time

Your website should be working for you, not the other way around. A new site with a proper CMS can help make your work more efficient by allowing your editors to focus on their goals. A good system can empower your editors with integrations with your existing services and vendors. You don’t need to spread yourself (and specifically your valuable time) across multiple sites and services. A few key points of integration with your CMS could include:

• Integrating with your CRM (Customer Relationship Management) to track interactions with your site, authenticate logins, and send reminder emails to customers.
• Integrating with your eCommerce service to ensure transactions are handled securely while keeping track of inventory and sales metrics.
• Integrating with your marketing platforms. Whether that’s a complete email marketing service, social media, or tracking software, it should work within your CMS.

What does your current form of integration with these systems look like? Are you relying on iframes, or do you have full API support built into your site? Different solutions work for different products, but you should feel confident that the solution for your site is stable, flexible, and fits within your desired workflow.

Learn more about how Mugo helped TURI redefine their workflow when they integrated a new safety evaluation tool on their site. 

Your website needs to be accessible

The web is the best way to provide an accessible experience to your audience. If you have an older website, you probably don’t have the built-in features and considerations that make it usable for clients with disabilities. More laws are being passed to require accessibility, but updating your site to be accessible shouldn’t be driven by legal concerns. You should make sure your web visitors have the best experience possible when visiting your site, and it should be easy for you to maintain a highly accessible website without specialized knowledge. When it comes down to it, if your site doesn’t work for some of your clients, you aren’t reaching your full potential as a business. 1 in 4 individuals in the United States has a disability of some kind, many of which impact how one uses the internet. Accessibility aids aren’t only used by those with disabilities, either. They are tools increasingly used by people in a broad range of circumstances. Why would you not want to make sure your website has the widest reach and audience possible? 

Your website needs to be mobile responsive

While we’re talking about reach, another issue with many older websites is the lack of responsive design. Originally, websites were designed with only computer screens in mind. At the time of launch, that made sense. How else would you access a website? But since then, mobile technology has progressed exponentially and is quickly eclipsing desktop computers as the primary way people access the internet. It’s estimated that 90% of the world’s internet population use a mobile device to go online. Mobile usage is only going to continue to go up. If you don’t have a website that works on any device, you don’t have a website people will want to visit. Mobile responsive design lasts longer than apps, can be universal across platforms, and in the end, will help you reach far more people.

Do you need a new website? 

If your website isn’t up-to-date, secure, easy to use for you and your clients, accessible and responsive, then you need a new website. That can be a daunting realization. The good news is that there are people to help! Working with a dedicated web development partner can be the best next step you take for your business. We at Mugo are more than happy to talk to you about your new website project. Contact us today to get started.