If you think, like most entrepreneurs, that your eCommerce website development is just a one-time job, you seriously need to revise your thinking.
Just like any other business tool or method that you upgrade from time to time, your website also needs the same treatment, especially in the case of eCommerce websites because they are meant to generate revenue for your business.
Many of my clients ask me “What are the consequences if I don’t update my website regularly” and I keep telling them about different ways in which their outdated website can hurt their business. So I thought to come up with a blog post that will explain some of such major consequences.
How can we identify whether a website is outdated or not?
Well, below are a few major characteristics of an outdated eCommerce website. If your website to shows any of the signs below, you better know what to do next.
Yes, update your website.
Characteristics Of An Outdated Website
- Non-mobile friendly (lack of responsiveness)
- Misaligned product images
- Low-quality product images
- Too small or too big font
- Broken links
- Misaligned content
- No SSL (https://)
- The last updated content was a few years ago
- Incorrect phone numbers
- Not compatible with new browsers
- Slow loading webpages
- Non-working flash animations
- Malicious script warnings
- Any unexpected behavior
Recommended Post: 5 Major Reasons To Redesign Your Ecommerce Website
How Can an Outdated Website Hurt Your Business?
Here are 6 ways in which your outdated website can really hurt your business.
#1 People Don't Take Your Business Seriously
Imagine that you wish to buy a watch for yourself and you happen to land on an eCommerce store that:
- takes forever to load
- have too small fonts
- doesn’t align well on your browser
Will you really dare to pay for & buy your watch from this website?
If you ask me, it’s a big NO & I am sure it’s the same for you too.
So yes, people stop taking your business seriously if your website looks outdated.
#2 The Quality Of Your Products & Services Becomes Questionable
When we do any business online, our website becomes the face of our company or brand. People don’t know us or they don’t see our faces but they do get engaged with our websites. They do business with us but through our website.
Having said this, it will be a no-brainer tip me if I say how badly it affects your credibility when people see low-quality product images on your eCommerce website.
Let along with buying them, people start questioning your products & credibility.
#3 You Help Your Competitors Who Are Always Updated
If you have competitors who update their eCommerce store regularly in terms of design, technology & content, and if you don’t do it, then you are, unknowingly, sending your customers to them.
In other words, you are helping your competitors to grow their businesses. I am sure, in any given situation, you would not like to do this.
Look around yourself and see if your competitors are active enough to update their websites. If they do, you must take an action now.
#4 Your Outdated Website Hurts Your SEO Rankings
Now, this is the worst thing that can happen to any eCommerce business.
SEO is one of the best & affordable mediums to get more traffic on any website. It simply means SEO can get you more sales for your eCommerce business. But this is possible only when your website ranks in significant positions in search results.
And for getting on the top positions of search engines, you must ensure that your website is being updated regularly with fresh content and your website has a responsive web design.
Unfortunately, if you haven’t updated your website for quite a long, there are high chances that you have a low or no amount of visitors to your website through search engines.
It may cost you when you hire a web developer to upgrade or redesign your eCommerce store, but believe me, it’s a wise investment.
#5 Your Potential Customers Get Annoyed
Who doesn’t get annoyed when things don’t work as expected?
The same is the case with a website, especially an eCommerce website where people intend to buy products online.
When your eCommerce website has issues like slow-loading pages, misaligned content & images, obsolete content, or malicious warnings, it is quite usual for anyone to get annoyed.
#6 Your Marketing & Advertising Money Gets Wasted
If you have been spending money on advertising or marketing your eCommerce store on Google or Facebook, just stop it otherwise you will end up losing your money.
In the real world, when we invite our guests to our home, we make sure that our home looks neat & tidy. So is the case with your website.
Before you spend money and invite people to your eCommerce website to make purchases, make sure your website is in proper shape.