If you have been concerned that your website performance is not as strong as it should be, you are certainly not alone. But, how do you know if it’s time for an overhaul? These five signs should help you decide:

1. You haven’t received a sales lead via your Contact Us form in 6 months.

Your site is your online front door and customers should be coming through it seeking your services, if your site is doing it’s job. Consumer products companies will, of course, receive more sales from their sites than a business-to-business service firm, but all for-profit companies should be generating sales leads from their websites.

2. You can’t read it on a cell phone.

In April of 2015, Google changed their algorithm to push non-mobile-friendly sites to the bottom of search rankings. This means that if your site cannot be easily read on a standard mobile phone, you’re in the penalty box and fewer prospective customers are going to find it. In addition, since more than 50% of all online searches are now conducted on mobile devices, it means visitors are much more likely to quickly leave your site if they can’t easily read it, and move on to your competitor.

3. You’re embarrassed to send anyone to your site because the content is outdated and/or there are broken links and other performance issues.

Sales representatives are usually the first team members to recognize when their company’s website has become an embarrassment, because they see the reaction (or silence) that follows when their prospects check out your site and find it less than impressive. The sales team is also the front line that has to explain why their brochures and contracts are not aligned with the content on your site. And, if your site delivers any “404 – Page Not Found” errors, it’s really underperforming in a significant way.

4. Your customer service inquiries are mostly from people trying to find information that is on your website.

This is a clear signal that your site’s user experience is poor and the navigation needs to be improved. Visitors should not have to click more than twice to find the information they are seeking. A professional site mapping exercise will help you reorganize the information architecture to ensure that it makes sense and is easily accessible for every type of user that may visit your site seeking information, including current and prospective customers, job candidates, distributors, investors, news media, etc.

5. Your content looks and reads almost exactly the same as your competitors.

Unless your goal is to make your company’s products and services look like “me too” commodities that can be purchased from anyone in your industry without any discernible difference in customer satisfaction, this should be a red flag. Your brand should inspire and differentiate your company and its products and make you stand out from the crowd, not blend in like a wallflower. With a little work on your brand strategy, messaging and website design, your site will show prospective customers why you’re the only one for them.

Your company’s website is the most important marketing tool that you have, and it’s important to give it the love and attention it needs to perform well, tell your unique story and bring in the customers. If you want a professional opinion regarding whether your website needs an overhaul, take the next step and request a free website assessment from Meta4.