Did you know that 92 percent of consumers will visit a brand’s website before making a purchase? If they don’t buy something, they use your site to compare your products or services to other brands, or to find your hours and location.

Your website is your first impression on many of your potential customers.

So, what is the importance of having a current and responsive website? For one thing, a strong website provides a better user experience for your customers than an outdated one.

Keep reading for more reasons to put more effort into your business website.

It Impacts Your Reputation

Your website is a reflection of your business. It shows customers how reliable, transparent, and credible you are.

If your website hasn’t been updated since 2012, your online presence is suffering. Which means your business’s reputation is suffering.

With so many consumers choosing to shop online now, you need to show up where they are. And, if your site is slower than your competitors’, consumers will choose them.

Here’s a tip: increase your website’s loading speeds. Do this by using browser caching, reducing redirects, compressing large files in the backend, and minifying the script.

It Impacts Your Marketing Efforts

How much of your budget do you channel into marketing each year? Most businesses spend 7 to 8 percent of their gross revenue on marketing.

Chances are, most of your social ads, Google ads, and promotion point consumers towards your website.

If they arrive on your site and it doesn’t match your branding elsewhere, they might not think they’re in the right place. Your website should have the same branding guidelines as your other channels, like social media pages and flyers.

Improve your website by creating unique landing pages from each marketing channel. If users click a Google Ad that has a promotion of your sale, make sure the link in that ad takes them to a page relevant to the sale.

It Impacts Your Sales

Web design has the power to enable more sales or decrease your sales. When consumers land on your website, they potentially enter your sales funnel.

They go through stages of interest and research, consideration and gathering information, and finally, making a purchase.

A site that is designed to nurture shoppers through their funnel flawlessly will see more sales. There are lots of ways to do this. One idea is to make sure the shopping cart icon is always in the top right corner of your site’s navigation.

You can also make it easy for them to get more information on your products. Include detailed product descriptions and FAQ pages.

So, What is the Importance of Updating My Website?

Your website is more important today than ever before. Consumers rely on it to decide if they want to buy from you or someone else.

What is the importance of having a current website design? To stand out from your competition and grow your business.