Fight the Signs of Website Ageing

Traffic on the wane

If your stats show a consistent downward trend, then it is a sure sign that you need to review it. 

Specific things to look for in your web stats are:

• repeat visitors - if your users aren't returning, then it is a sure sign that it doesn't offer them anything and they've "been there, done that"
• visit duration - if users are staying longer, then it may indicate that they are really interested in what you offer
• exit pages - can tell you which pages are turning people off
• robot/spider visits - can indicate how often search engines check your site

A good stats program will show you these things and a good web developer should be able to teach you how to interpret them.  There is no point investing in pumping more visitors to your site if people are leaving in droves.

Poor Google Results

Poor search engine rankings, and lets face it, who doesn't use Google these days, can indicate that your website is using older technologies.  Google responds better to frequently updated sites that have plenty of quality links to and from other sites.  If your website doesn't offer anything, then people are not going to want to link to it.

Google also favours proper structure, design and well written content.  If your website doesn't have these things, it may simply get ignored.

Datalink can help you to identify what is causing your poor search engine performance and prepare a strategy for lifting your rankings.

Animated Intro Sequences

Animated intros (especially those with music) went out of fashion in the 90s along with cliparts and “flaming logos”.  Most people will just leave your site at the sight of them, and it is a big turn-off for frequent visitors (ie. Your customers).  They also use technologies that have negative impacts on search engine rankings.  Ask Datalink to remove it or embed some animation into your design as an alternative.

Use of Email Links

Be careful, you may just be asking for your address to be scoured by an Internet SPAM engine and added to a bulk marketing list. Have Datalink create online enquiry forms, or ask about Form Factory so you can create your own.

Text Represented by Images

Used in the old days when brochures were simply scanned in and uploaded as “webpages”.  Sometimes this enabled websites to look exactly like their brochure counterparts, from the fonts down to the colours.  A big negative is accessibility.  Search engines can’t read images either, so your results can be poor.  Have Datalink build you an information rich site that will be more accessible and get better search rankings.

Only Technical People Update

Still finding that you need to contact the IT department to change a little text on your website ?  Every website needs content management!  Updating your site frequently will increase your return visits, while adding new content can increase the site’s search engine rankings.   It can also save up to tens of thousands of dollars in website development costs.  Even if you still use someone, such as an advertising agency to put your content up on your behalf, content management can make it much easier and cost-effective.  The better and easier to use the content management system is, the better results.  Ask Datalink about Freestyler.

Excessive Menu Links

Psychology and usability studies show that human beings can only hold 5-7 options in short term memory at a time.  It’s what we like to call the magic 7 rule.  If your site has more than 7 main links, then you are confusing your users with too many options.  Big sites can get disorganised quickly.  Have Datalink create an effective Information Architecture for your site, breaking it into bite-sized chunks for easier consumption based on proven usability principles.  This will allow users to easily find the information on your site they are looking for.

Outdated Layout Technologies

Frame based navigation is a non-standard Internet Explorer feature was once used in the days of dial-up to keep pages loading fast. It is no longer necessary or desirable and makes your site completely inaccessible to some users.  Like frames, table layouts can be detrimental to your sites search engine results.  Stylesheets are a more advanced way to layout pages that makes them more accessible. Have Datalink design you a frameless or tableless layout that loads just as fast and looks great.

Last Updated Dates - Neglect on Display

It is a good idea to indicate the currency of your information if it is constantly updated, but it can also be a sign that your site has been neglected if it isn’t.  One of the first things people look for on a site is any information about how current the content is.  Datalink have techniques to make your content look updated so you don’t have to try to hide the fact that your website isn’t updated as much as you’d like it to be.  And better still, having staff use a content management system like Freestyler makes it even easier than ever to keep your website up-to-date and deliver timely information.

Seek Help

A website should get a major overhaul at least once every two years to keep these tell-tale signs at bay.  And you should be constantly reviewing and evaluating your website's fitness and performance.

If you think your website or Intranet may be falling behind, Datalink can diagnose and cure the problems for you or better still - re-design from scratch - just get on the phone and contact us.

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