People don’t use the web like they did five years ago—heck, even five months ago. From increased mobile adoption to ever-evolving accessibility standards, your website needs to keep pace in order for it to provide value for anyone and everyone, anywhere. Here are five simple warning signs that your website is falling behind, courtesy of our lead strategist, Andrew Heins.
Slow Speed
You can’t always blame a spotty connection as the reason your website is slow. A number of factors can impact page load speeds including large image file sizes, bloated code and an excessive amount of plug-ins. The slow speed can derail conversions and even affect ad performance.
Mobile Misery
Mobile phones accounted for almost 60% of global website traffic this time last year, and the number continues to rise. If your website was built for the desktop crowd, it’s time to optimize it for a world constantly on the go and wanting information at their fingertips. Thinking “mobile first” is essential for future-proofing your website and making it a joy to browse.
Traffic Jams
Too much traffic at your website is never a bad thing, unless it can’t handle the load. Users get frustrated by slower than normal speeds (just like sitting in real traffic) and, worse, your website could go down altogether. If your website is experiencing traffic congestion, start by looking into scalable hosting providers and rethinking your server architecture.
Old Information Architecture
Simply asked, is the flow from your homepage to deeper content seamless? And is it this flow supporting your business as it grows and offers more services and online resources? If not, you need to optimize the organization of your pages and update your page templates to better serve your content and messaging.
Inaccessibility
For the same reason buildings are built with ramps and not just stairs, websites should be accessible to everyone. Get compliant by optimizing your website’s color contrast, providing alt text for images and featuring a clear navigation, to name a few.
At Cantilever, we pride ourselves on building and designing websites that perform to the highest standards and provide users with effortless experiences. Is your website showing some of these warning signs? Let’s talk. Our Cantilever Diagnostic is a great place to start.