
I’ve seen A Knight’s Tale probably three dozen times since it came out. I just love the part when the heroes say, “You have been weighed, you have been measured, and you absolutely have been found wanting” to the villain after he lost the joust. I can’t help but think back to those words whenever I visit a site that’s been left to rot. That’s because—by refusing to invest in fixing a website that clearly needs help—it’s clear that business has “absolutely been found wanting.”
Allowing an outdated, broken website to exist is basically saying to everyone in the online world that you don’t care about your users. And, that’s a real shame for a lot of reasons, but the biggest of which is that a truly great website can “change your stars.” When your site’s essentially broken, your customers are going to struggle to use it. And, here’s more bad news: A wonky website also hurts other digital marketing efforts. But more on that in a little bit.
After a couple of decades working in web design, I find it easy to spot an underperforming website because it’s my job. But if this isn’t your world, it can be easy to miss subtle signs that your website is on its way to becoming a digital graveyard. That’s why, with this article, I’m covering what you can do to review to “weigh and measure” your site like a pro to figure out if it’s time to prioritize budgeting money for a strategic redesign project. And, if you read all the way to the end, I’ll share specific things you can do when working with a web design agency to make sure you build the best possible redesigned site.