Could you be losing business because of your website? A well-designed website should drive traffic and keep homebuyers engaged but if you’re seeing less traffic, leads, and conversions then it’s possible your website is the cause.
If you can’t remember when you last redesigned your website, it could be time to start considering a redesign. Are you unsure that it’s time to for a full website redesign? Here are seven signs you should look for.
Your website design is outdated
We’re said it before: great web design inspires trust in your business. Homebuyers make instant value judgments based on the look of your website. An outdated website shows that you’re behind the trend curve, which could lead home buyers to think your home designs are outdated as well.
Additionally, if your website is more than five years old, it’s probably time to consider redesigning your online presence since web development technology has advanced and best practices have changed a lot since your website was created.
Your website is not responsive or mobile-friendly
A responsive or mobile-friendly website is no longer an optional feature. It’s required. More home buyers are using mobile devices to connect to the Internet. If your website doesn’t display correctly on those smaller devices, any mobile visitor will leave.
Your website is slow
Slow load times are deadly, especially with shortened attention spans. If it takes longer than a few seconds for a webpage to load, you’re more likely to lose website visitors.
Your website is difficult to navigate
Homebuyers should be able to quickly and easily find the information they’re looking for: where you build, the available homes and prices, floorplans and virtual tours. If they need to dig through your website to find the information they’re looking for, they’ll leave and find a home builder that makes that information easy to find.
Not only does a difficult-to-navigate website frustrate human visitors, but it also makes it difficult for search engines like Google and Bing to crawl your website, thus decreasing your rankings (more on this next).
Your website has low search engine rankings
Since home buyers are increasingly using the Internet during their home buying process, it’s important that home builders can be found online. You’re losing out on traffic if your company isn’t showing up on the first page of a search result. Search engine optimization (SEO) has matured and now requires more work than simply stuffing keywords onto a specific page.
Effective website design takes into account the latest SEO best practices (like meta descriptions and title tags, optimized images with alt text and file names, properly formatted URLs with relevant keywords, and internal links to other pages) and will make it more likely your website will appear on the first page.
It’s difficult to update content
It’s important to keep your website up-to-date with the most accurate information. You should be able to quickly make these updates, whether it’s to update pricing or availability or even adding a new community or floorplan. If this process is frustratingly long and difficult or means you have to go through a third-party and wait for the update to be made, it’s time to consider a new website with an easy-to-use content management system (CMS) like smartEDIT. This will allow you to have the most accurate information available to homebuyers.
Your competitors have redesigned their websites
If your competitors have recently redesigned their website, you may be losing valuable traffic and leads as homebuyers are attracted to a new, modern-looking design.
Is it time to redesign your home builder website?
There’s more to redesigning your website than just getting something new and flashier than the competition. Take time to review your website, noting any pain points, areas for improvement, and any features you’re missing. Has your traffic and leads gone down over time? How do you envision your website working better for you?
If you’ve encountered some of the issues we highlighted, it’s time to make a change. Let us help. Redesigning a website isn’t a simple task and you need a trusted expert that understands the new home construction industry. Graphic Language has been creating unforgettable home shopping experiences for over twenty years. Check out our portfolio and see what we can do for you. When you’re ready to make that change, schedule a demo and we’ll show you how we can help achieve your goals.