Updated: March 14, 2025
Even the most successful small business websites in Canada will occasionally re-design its features or completely overhaul their look. Why? Well, there are many reasons. Sometimes, a website owner may just want to freshen things up. Other times though, it may be because of major issues in the functionality of a website. Here are the top signs your website design needs an upgrade.
1. Your Website Is Stuck To A Clunky Template
A template presents nothing new. It keeps you to a design that has been used by hundreds of similar businesses as yours and an infrastructure that neglects your vision. As you want to evolve, your template cannot. An upgrade can eliminate a clunky layout, bad design, and dated fonts. Create a new, fresh, sleek design that makes the first impression you want to make on new customers.
2. Slow Loading Time Tests Your User’s Patience
We’re all impatient. If a site doesn’t load fast chances are a user is leaving. Numerous things can affect your site speed. A London, Ontario web designer can help by examining your website from every angle, identifying and eliminating its speed weaknesses while providing support to ensure every page loads quickly and completely.
3. An Outdated Aesthetic Makes Your Website Appear Old
The bottom line is that looks matter on a website. If you created your web design a decade ago and haven’t done many big changes in its aesthetic since then, chances are it’s not looking very fresh or modern. Don’t be stuck in the past. Put in for an upgrade. Give your website a more current appearance that touches upon modern design trends.
4. You Have Rebranded Or There Have Been Business Changes
No business wants its website to have its old logo, dated info, and outright wrong details about its company. When you rebrand your business, rebrand everywhere. Replace or update outdated content. Speak to a web designer about updating your website with a new logo, colors, and graphics. Your website should be up-to-date and accurate when it comes to business branding.
5. You Prefer A Competitor’s Website Over Your Own
Don’t let a competitor outdo you. Measure up and soar past your competition with a better website. Talk to a web designer who can run analyses on your competitor’s site and advise on what you can do to improve what you got. A business owner should be proud of their website. It should be strong enough to keep up with even your biggest competition.
6. Your Website Lacks Mobile Responsiveness On A Smartphone
If your website isn’t mobile responsive or isn’t showing up right on a smartphone, no wonder you’re losing so many customers! The number of smartphone users is growing every year and more Internet users are on smartphones or mobile devices than desktops. You generate more revenue on mobile screens, no matter your industry. You’ve got to have a mobile-responsive website for this very reason.
7. Your Bounce Rate Is Increasing When It Should Be Decreasing
Have you noticed more users exiting your site without becoming customers? You may have functional or navigation issues, bad design, or something else preventing you from getting that last click. If you’re serious about building a customer base through your website, you need a more modern, well-designed website.
8. Your Website Is Older Than 5 Years And Hasn’t Been Updated
Even if your website performs well, a lot can change in five years. You could be missing out on modern design trends, new features, or relying on outdated SEO and marketing practices. If your site hasn’t been updated in that time, it’s worth consulting a web designer for an expert review. You may not need a full redesign, but a professional evaluation can help you stay current and competitive.
9. There Are Security Issues Or Vulnerabilities Present
Another major issue with an older website is there are most likely security vulnerabilities present. Every year, web security advances and without the right protocols, a website is left open to potential hackers. This is not an area to ignore. Even if it’s a small business website, if a vulnerability can be exploited, you can easily end up losing your site permanently. Have your site security evaluated.
10. Lack Of Trust Elements To Indicate Credibility To Your Users
Trust indicators are essential in modern web design. Testimonials, safety certifications, and SSL badges are important. Users may hesitate to visit and stay on-page if your website is not perceived as safe and secure. This also applies to secure payments, privacy notices, and other indicators of trust and authenticity. Upgrade your site so that it presents as trustworthy and credible.
11. Your Products Or Services Are Not Receiving Clicks And Sales
Low conversion rates are hard to acknowledge for any business. If you were once selling a lot through your site and no longer are, you may find it’s because you’ve lost users somewhere along the way. A professional web designer/developer can tell you why there’s been a drop-off in leads or conversions and can implement new content or design advice to help you structure your pages in a more customer-friendly way.
12. No Integration Of Modern Tools To Support Website Growth
There are dozens of tools current websites use, such as CRMs, email marketing tools, analytics platforms, live chat, automation, chatbots, contact forms, and more. If there’s a lack of interaction and diversity on-site, it’s likely a sign that an upgrade would help. The less manual processing your website has to do, the more efficient your site will be.
13. Your Search Engine Leads Are Decreasing, Low, Or Non-Existent
Your website has the potential to receive a ton of clicks from search engines. If there’s improper formatting, a lack of headings, outdated code, or missing metadata, this could reduce search engine visibility. Ensure your site is aligned with SEO best practices, complete with schema markup, optimized images, clean code, and internal linking.
14. Your Website Is Difficult To Navigate With A Cluttered Design
Companies grow and websites evolve. When you first started your website, maybe you thought it would be one type of business and over time, it’s progressed to become something else. As websites grow, your site can become difficult to navigate and new users can get confused trying to click around. Simplify a cluttered design with an upgrade.
15. Your Website Is Not Properly Optimized For Your Target User
A website with oversized images, complex coding, outdated hosting, irrelevant content, broken links, confusing menus, buried content, and inconsistent layouts is not optimized like it should be. Prioritize the user experience. A redesign and upgrade improve flow and hierarchy. It also keeps pages intuitive, simple, and logical.
16. Design Elements Are Not Rendering Correctly Or Not Loading
As a web designer works on a website, they tend to use what’s trendy at the time. Something like Adobe Flash was once extremely popular and so useful! These days, you don’t need it and browsers don’t support it. Features and design elements like these can come off dated or plain don’t work. When this occurs, speak with a web designer and ask for an honest assessment of what they’d recommend.
17. Lots Of Broken Links And 404 Errors
A dead link is a bad look for a website. Broken navigation like this only frustrates the user. Too many 404s make your site look neglected and is a clear sign that maintenance or a full redesign is needed. A web designer can run a link audit to identify potential issues. Use redirects for removed pages. Prioritize the credibility of your site by reducing all on-page errors to zero.
18. Lack Of Clear Calls-To-Action (CTA)
Every page should guide a user to a specific action using a CTA. Weak, hidden, or non-existent CTAs won’t convert. Ensure your buttons, placement, and wording are clear. You may have to use contrasting colors to properly highlight CTAs. Always simplify your CTA messaging to keep them short and action-driven. They should also fit intuitively in your page’s content flow.
These aren’t the only signs your website design needs an upgrade but this short list makes up the most common reasons. If you suspect your website is no longer working for you, get it looked at. It’s sort of like taking in your car for an inspection, in the sense that if you want your website to work, you’ve got to make sure it’s sound in design and functionality. Contact New Concept Design for free consultation.