When was the last time you took a critical look at your website? It may have been a while. It can be hard to see your site objectively because you look at it every day. You don’t notice as it ages because you’re used to seeing it regularly, rather than for the first time like most visitors. It might be time to redesign.
Most designers recommend updating your website every 1-2 years. But, if your site has any of the following signs your website needs a facelift, you should think about changing it now:
1. Keeping Everything “Above the Fold”
I’m sure you’ve heard it before. “User’s don’t scroll! Keep your content above the fold!” Well, this is downright wrong. It’s outdated web design.
Users are scrolling. We’ve gotten used to using our mouse wheel, or swiping up with our thumbs. You don’t need to cram all your content in the top section of the page. If you have an ecommerce store, users will likely scroll to see reviews before buying. If it’s an article, they will scroll to see headlines at the least. Stretch out a bit, and give your content room to breathe!
2. Not Showing White Space
White space is your friend! A design that includes white space is great for several reasons. No one likes those sites crammed full of stuff just to fill space. You might want to try using a grid. Not only will this make your site more pleasing to the eye, it will also make it mobile friendly. And that will help your search engine optimization (SEO)!
There are several advantages of white space within your website design:
- It attracts the eyes. White space draws attention.
- It creates a clean first impression about your design.
- White space gives balance to your web design.
- It improves text readability.
- White space ads sophistication to your website.
- It helps you bring attention to specific areas.
- White space directs the visitor’s eyes.
- It serves as a great separator.
3. Using Image Carousels
The average user spends less than 10 seconds before making a decision to stick around on your website, so when you put content into several slides, visitors won’t see it. That’s just bad design, if you want to know.
What should you use instead? Try a sweet looping background video (without sound)!
4. Using Bland Fonts Like Arial or Times New Roman
Gone are the times of every website using Times New Roman. They are generic, bland, and boring.
There are plenty of fonts out there with high readability that can help you stand out from the crowd. You may want to use GoogleFonts, FontSquirrel or TypeKit by Adobe.
5. Stock Photos Are Bad, Mkay
Please stop using generic stock photos. They are part of an outdated web design. You can’t blame your web designer for that. You as a business should have your own unique photos. Don’t rely on cheesy stock photos. We know the guy in the gray suit with a big smile on his face doesn’t work for you. You’re not fooling anyone.
Instead of stock photos, take you own pictures! Or only use stock photos of things and places, not people.
You should avoid stock photos for several reasons:
- Using a stock photo is lazy. Most times you could take your own photo or pay someone to illustrate something for you.
- Stock photos are all about cliches. Cliches are ineffective. Avoid them.
- They are often outdated.
- The stock photos you use on your website could be on thousands of other websites too. Does that really help you stand out?
There you have it — signs that your website needs a facelift. Stop using these old design elements. Give your website the overhaul it deserves. Get some inspiration from great modern sites.
As always, we hope you found this article helpful! Please share it so we can help as many people as possible!
Monika Beck
Monika Beck is a serial entrepreneur and the co-founder of Success Harbor a website for entrepreneurs. Success Harbor is dedicated to documenting the entrepreneurial journey through interviews, original research, and unique content. Monika Beck is also co-founder of a website designer and online marketing company.
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