You might have noticed that some things look different around the Minto website. We are no strangers to making changes. After all, you have to practice what you preach. How can we offer the best web design with the latest innovations and style when we don’t do that for ourselves? That’s why we looked at our website and decided it was time for a change. Having already gone through a brand-new web design a little under two years ago, we felt it was time to get to work again. We came up with a kinetic style and design that fits who we are now and how much things have already evolved. Although we build all our websites to last, with maintenance and hosting to match to ensure they won’t fall apart once the job is completed, it doesn’t hurt to change things up occasionally, does it? No, we aren’t trying to sell you a new web package, honest… Whilst evaluating the previous site we learnt a lot about ourselves and the changes we’ve been through, which has helped us understand more about why it’s so important to have an invigorating website that is as up to date as it is dynamic.
Your website is how you communicate with potential customers, displaying who you are and your brand message. That means it needs to be alive and bursting with creative energy that keeps the user captivated and wanting to know more about you. It's is all about aesthetics. Fashions and styles can change like the weather, and what worked a couple of years ago may be dead and gone by now - and the same could be said of web design. Vibrant or monochromatic? Minimalistic or abstract? Graphic or animation? You know your brand and you understand its aesthetic elements, but maybe there's been a couple of recent changes. Whether they are minor tweaks or a whole rebrand, your website needs to reflect any internal changes you may be going through - how else would you communicate them externally? Ultimately, the appearance of the site reflects your business, and for many, it can be a vital first impression. Make sure your website doesn’t let that down by appearing dull, uninspired, or doesn’t match the new brand.
Having an aesthetically pleasing web design is fantastic, but there needs to be content beyond that. Otherwise, how can you expect the user to spend enough time on your website to become a customer? Once you have them in your grasp - thanks to your magnetic design - you want them to go beyond the curtain and draw them into your brand. Content is the answer, allowing you to flesh out your story. Yet, it needs to be relevant, engaging, up to date, and reflective of who you are and what you’re communicating. Updating your website allows you to fine-tune your content and your tone of voice. Perhaps what was once front and centre in the last incarnation of your website no longer reflects what you're promoting now. Or maybe its tone or style is completely off and no longer in trend or relevant to you. Analytics are a great tool to find out what users are clicking on, how they navigate the site, and where they spend their time. This allows you to create pioneering content tailor-made to suit the user. Updating your site gives you the chance to create a rejuvenating experience for your audience.
When taking the time to revitalise the appearance and content, it is worth diving deeper and evaluating your SEO to maximise results. The rules surrounding SEO seldom stay the same. They will change whenever Google update their search engine algorithm, directly impacting your website and its search engine ranking. SEO isn't something you can afford to shelf. Doing so will only ever result in your website falling even further behind. Whilst this doesn't match the allure of changing the style or the excitement of creating new content, that doesn't mean it's any less important. If you're going to devote time and energy to creating a site that excites and captivates, then you're going to want to update SEO to give it the best chance to succeed and be seen.
Perhaps you’ve run some tests. Or you’ve asked for some feedback from users. What you’ve found is that your website isn’t as accessible as you had at one point imagined or that time has moved on, with your website losing ground. The needs of the user - that is, the customer - will change. What worked a few years ago is now dated and outworn. Where users once accessed your site primarily on desktop, nowadays it's all about mobile. The switch to mobile-first website development continues to increase, with over half of all web traffic coming from mobiles (54.8%). Your website needs to be accessible and, better yet, robust so that it works just as well - if not better - on mobile than it does on desktop. How the user navigates the website, taking a deep dive through all the compelling content, goes hand in hand with their overall experience online. It needs to be seamless. You can't have mobile users falling over themselves or getting lost as they try to navigate the site. So, if it's not up to scratch or outdated in any way, then it's back to the drawing board.
This isn’t just for the impatient people among us. There’s a good reason why slow loading times on websites lead to high bounce-back rates. No one likes to waste their time hanging around a lethargic site that is struggling to load. Especially when the competition out there has responsive, dynamic loading times - you need to seize the user's attention instantly and effectively. That's why it's fundamental that you stay on top of your loading times, doing all you can to avoid a sluggish user experience. If you've got a problem across all web pages, then it might be time to consider making some changes. We all want a responsive web design that doesn't leave you sitting staring at your reflection on the screen, and with web development technology changing and evolving, the options are out there to create an accelerated site. Not only will you be rewarded with a more efficient and receptive experience, pleasing users in the process, but Google will consider your website loading speed in its search engine rankings. That means that a faster website could potentially lead to Google placing you above your slower competitors, leaving them to play catch up.
