How long do you keep your car?  Some people swap their car every 2-3-4 years, while others keep them for ten, and run them into the ground.  There are pros and cons to both strategies, and endless arguments about which is best: older cars have higher maintenance costs, sport some rust, and look dated.  But there are no monthly payments.

How long should you keep your website before swapping it for a new one?  Here are ten key questions that can help:

1. Does it generate leads (or registrations) at the level you expect?  Every marketing channel needs to pull its weight: if the web is not doing so, then there needs to be a change.
2. Is your blog still separate from your website?  To improve search engine rankings – and expose users to your static content – your website and blog need to be completely integrated.
3. Is the site built on an “open” social platform, such as WordPress?  30% of all sites are built on this platform, for good reason: It’s free, it’s a social platform, and you’re not locked into a vendor’s proprietary system.  And there are 50K+ plug-ins that extend the functionality to do whatever you want.
4. Are the pictures dated , or are they stock photography?  Is there video on the site?  Visuals give users the best clue to your relevance, and engage at an emotional level.
5. Do site statistics show that users arrive on the site, then rarely click through to other pages?  This indicates poor page layout, poor content, and poor information architecture.  They expected something, and were either frustrated finding it – or disappointed in what they found.
6. No mobile or tablet version of the site?  In some cases, the majority of users access the site on the go:  why frustrate them with a site that only looks good on a huge screen? (Read about Responsive Design.)
7. Does your website’s look and feel reflect your real-world branding?  Websites should reflect what your brand aspires to be: does your website do this, or does it reflect a real-world brand from several years ago?
8. Is your website connected to – and powered by – your systems?  Old-style sites are disconnected from internal systems; new sites tightly connected to both CRM (Customer Relationship Management), Marketing Automation, and Supply Chain/ERP systems.
9. Do you get feedback that the site looks stale, is hard to find information on, or doesn’t “do” what they want?  It takes effort to complain, so listening carefully  – and doing something about it – makes sense.
10. Are you satisfied with your site’s search engine ranking?  The site’s initial construction plays a significant role in how well it ranks: no amount of after-the-fact money paid to so-called SEO experts can fix a site that isn’t built with SEO from the ground up.

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