Unless you’re selling ice cream for a living, the last thing you want your business called is “old fashioned.”

If it’s been a while (*ahem* or a long while) since you’ve updated your website, that might be exactly what your customers are thinking.

The thing is, if you want people to think you’re hip, cutting edge, current and relevant, you’ve got to show them, and your website is the best place to do it. If you’re not a web developer by trade, you might not know just how outdated your site has become.

We’ll let you in on a secret: if any of these remind you of your own digital presence, it’s long past time to do something about it.

Complex Colors

If your website looks like Rainbow Brite just threw up on a unicorn, you probably have a little too much going on.

Today’s most effective websites are sophisticated – think elegant simplicity – with a basic color scheme that allows images and headlines to do the talking.

If you’re not sure what a simple color scheme entails, here’s our rule of thumb: choose no more than one – maybe two at most – primary colors, and one accent color. Then, back away from the color wheel. You’re bright enough.

Short (Sad) Pages

Remember back in the olden days when you got online using a dial-up internet connection? “Welcome! You’ve got mail!”

We no longer connect that way, thank goodness, so internet users no longer need simple, short, flat web pages that load fast from a dial-up connection.

With today’s internet speeds, you can do a lot with your individual pages. Load your user up with relevant info and beautiful imagery.

That doesn’t mean you have to get long winded, though. Heavy, busy, and copy-laden pages aren’t doing you much good either. Say something that’s worth saying.

Last Decade’s “Accessories”

If you take nothing else from this post, please remember that your website’s hit counter, scrolling marquee, flash intro, auto play videos, background music, and wonky mixed fonts really must go!

Nothing will make your customer feel more like he or she has stepped back into 2001 than these little relics.

You may as well be selling your products in the stone age, if you’re managing to sell products at all. These are the webpage equivalent of using 15-year-old slang to your kids and thinking you’re cool. As if.

Large Text Blocks

Sure, you have a lot to say.

But just like those angry political rant posts on Facebook, having something to say doesn’t mean you have to say it here.

Large blocks of text on a page are overwhelming to most users, especially on mobile devices, and chances are, they’re not going to stick around to read it.

Try to break your text into bite-sized chunks with clear, compelling headlines and bullet points.

Mobile Unfriendliness

If you know anything about the modern marketplace, you know it’s increasingly mobile.

In fact, we’re all so mobile-minded that the vast majority of us use our phones to go online on a daily basis. With that in mind, if your website doesn’t look very good on a mobile device, or worse, if it doesn’t work at all on mobile, you’re losing a huge chunk of your potential customer base.

Think of your mobile site as an essential component of your website. In fact, your website should be developed from the start with mobile in mind.

By the way, this is also a core ranking requirement for Google. Without it, you won’t rank, and you can kiss your search engine traffic goodbye.

Content Updating is a Chore

The websites of yore were pretty clunky, and that’s why the content hasn’t changed much on them in the past decade.

Today’s designs are streamlined, customizable, and easier than ever to maintain and update.

New pages and fresh content is the secret to gaining SEO and attracting more customers, so if it takes a degree in rocket science to make any updates, it’s time for a change.