The Hidden (and Surprising) Reason Your Ads Might Not Be Working

There are many reasons for revenue to drop, including AI changing the digital marketing landscape, and a host of others (see our blog, Business in a slump? Why you might not want to advertise). It pays to do a little digging to see where the leak in your funnel is. 

But there’s one hidden revenue killer that many SMBs completely miss: an outdated website.

I get it: for most smaller businesses, building a website is an expensive endeavor. There’s a tendency to get it up, breathe a sigh of relief, and forget about it. Heck, I’d give good money that many small to medium business owners haven’t even glanced at their website in the last month (have you?). 

But the problem is that if your website is more than five years old, it’s high time you updated it. If it’s older than that… well, you need to get something new up, pronto.

Why? A dated website can be the kiss of death when it comes to engaging and converting new customers. 

I can hear you already: “But our customers are fine with our website! We got compliments when we launched it, and nobody has ever said anything negative about it, then or now!”

These things can all be true… and it can still be true that your website is preventing you from getting new customers. Let’s talk about why.

Three reasons your website isn’t converting like it used to

1. Any site over, say, 5 years old (if it hasn’t been routinely updated), is starting to look tired and dated. Your loyal customers are used to it and probably don’t notice: after all, they know you by the quality of your product or service, and won’t judge you by a dated site. But new potential customers will. All they have to base their judgment on (and base their trust on: remember, an online interaction is built on trust) is your website. If they see a dated site, they might assume your processes are dated, or your service is slow, or a whole bunch of other issues. And remember, even if your business is based in the “real world”, your website is still the first thing many people will see about you.
2. If your site is old, it’s likely that your systems are also dated. This could mean that your checkout system is clunky, your booking system is confusing, your payment options are limited, or your lead forms are a little wonky by today’s standards. We’ve all been trained these days to expect slick, fast, and easy… and if your website isn’t, they’re liable to wander off to a different one that is. 
3. If you haven’t looked at your site recently, chances are you also haven’t tested and adjusted your landing pages and acquisition funnel set-up in a while. If this sounds like you, take a look at this blog on how to build a website conversion funnel. Just because you can get people to your site, doesn’t mean they’ll ever come back again… unless you’ve taken steps to ensure they will.
4. An old site might very well load slowly, have broken links, and might be just a little hard to use. The problem with that? Google notices when sites don't perform well, and that can tank your organic search ranking (interested in SEO? See SEO: a practical real-world guide).

What to do about an old website

The all-important question is, “what now?”. If your budget extends to a full design refresh, it’s a good idea to do one every few years. Web design trends are always changing; it’s best to bring your website up into the current year so you appear relevant to today’s customers.

While you’re at it, clean up your systems to make it easy for customers to get the information they want, to submit a lead, buy your product, or book an appointment, etc. Just remember to keep your page structure intact or include redirects if needed so that you don’t tank your organic search ranking.

If you don’t have the budget to rebuild your website, at the very least consider updating your photography and upgrading your systems. But you also might be surprised how economical it is to build a new site customized from a template on website management companies like WebFlow. No, it’s not going to be free, but it might not be as expensive as you expect… and remember, if your website is turning new customers away, it’s a heck of a lot less expensive to update it than it is to do nothing.

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