7 Vital Website Updates To Achieve Better Business Success
How long has it been since your website’s home page has been updated with fresh new text and images?
How about your blog? Has it been months? Years even since your last entry? Do you even have a blog?
What about the last time you sent out a newsletter to your list?
If you now have a strong urge to click the delete button due to the sudden guilt pangs that just hit you, hold off on that temptation… instead keep reading to find out why those questions are so important…
Your Website Doesn’t Have To Be A BUST
Over the years I have spoken to a lot of entrepreneurs and business owners who, for one reason or another, have pretty much abandoned their website. Well, maybe abandoned is too strong of a word, let’s say they’ve neglected it badly…
Either they lost contact with their original web developer, don’t have time to deal with it, or simply don’t know that it needs to be looked after in the first place! Some even have told me they’ve given up on the whole thing; it’s been a bust because they hardly got any business from it.
If that at all describes you, don’t abandon ship! read this article instead…
Before diving into the 7 key website considerations, it’s important to remember that your website is NOT a brochure.
It was never meant to be built and forgotten about. Not if you expected it to get you an ongoing and sustainable influx of clients and new business.
So before you neglect your website any further and end up losing business to your competition, here are seven reasons why it’s vitally important to keep your website updated plus what you can do now to get it back on track:
- Your website is your most primary marketing piece for your business. Period. This is due to it being accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. It never takes a holiday and is never not seen by anyone who visits it. Ask yourself what impression others are getting if they visited your site right now? Sometimes this requires a very objective look because you may be too close to it to truly understand that impression. Does it look old and outdated? Are the images used not a very good representation of your business any longer?
You want your website to give an accurate and favourable impression to not only your prospective clients but also to your current clients so they can trust and believe that your business is in good shape.
The bottom line is that for the majority of you, your website IS your brick-and-mortar building for your target market to get an insight into who you are and what you’re about. Ask yourself this, would you ever not spruce up, modernize and refresh a real brick and mortar storefront?
- Google and other search engines will only love your site if there’s something new to index. If it detects that nothing has changed since the last time it indexed your website, then it will downgrade it in the search results. This is a critical point – you don’t want to get poor search result rankings or your prospective clients won’t be able to find you when they do a search for someone in your industry. Along the same line, search engines are only going to display your website in the search results if you have the right keywords placed within its text.
Don’t ignore website SEO and at least occasionally change your keywords to match what your ideal client is looking for is very valuable so they will find your site easier when searching for products or services that match their needs. You will in fact be penalized by Google for having stale content. Remember this one important thing: Google loves change!
- Prospective clients can tell if a site has been left stranded and will immediately get the impression you are either out of business or are not attentive enough to bother updating it. Either way, they have formed a negative impression on you and the credibility of your business.No one wants to do business with a failing company and if your website looks like it’s been abandoned, that’s exactly the impression your prospective clients will get.
- If you have a newsletter signup box on your site but never or rarely send out a newsletter, this also gives the impression you are not on top of things and really don’t care about building your business. Newsletters are an excellent way to keep top of mind with the people who literally put their hand up and said, ‘Yes, I want to hear from you!’Send out regular newsletters and skyrocket your visibility with the people who are ready and waiting to do business with you.
- Your website no longer accurately depicts your business direction anymore. Every business goes through an evolutionary process and it’s critical your website stays current with your product or service offerings. If you find yourself telling people, “oh sorry, my site doesn’t actually say anything about that particular service…” or “I don’t offer that any longer”, think about what kind of message is that person is getting about how well you run a business. Think about it.
- Your website looks like it was created in the 90s. Yes, even sites we designed several years ago are looking old and outdated. Avoid your site looking old by giving it a fresh redesign; otherwise, it looks like you don’t care enough about your business or about technological advances to keep it up to date. Keeping your website looking modern will improve your credibility and will give the impression you are attentive to the success of your business.
Not only that, but mobile-friendly websites are a must now and if yours does not display properly on a smartphone or is teeny tiny to look at, you are most certainly turning away valuable sales because it’s not easy for your prospective customers to see your offerings.
- Along the same lines as the look of your site being old, so can the technology and coding used behind the scenes to build it. Old technology and outdated plugins can create many problems including security threats and costly programming to work around the old scripts and code if new features need to be added. Often it is more cost-effective to re-develop your website than to continually patch the security holes and do programming workarounds that can be precariously unstable as soon as the next version of web browser comes along.
If you’re wondering if any of the above is applicable to you, then ask yourself if your website is performing the way it was intended.
Are you getting sufficient leads? Are people finding your website and signing up for your newsletter to get them into your marketing funnel? Is your conversion rate high enough to continually bring in new leads and sales?
If not, it’s a sure sign to take a close look at your “busting” website and have a talk with your web developer about ways to get it up-to-date so that it can provide you with the results you desire.
Your website can be a constantly evolving, powerful business tool if you give it proper attention.
It’s important to view it as an integral part of your marketing collateral so that it can work IN your favour instead of against it.
It can be as exciting, innovative and interactive as you want it to be, all you have to do is ask; the technology is available to create an amazing marketing piece for you like never before!
Taking an objective look at your website as it is now, is it time to update it or even give it a fresh new look? If you’re not sure, leave a comment below and I’ll take a look!
To your business success,
Susan Friesen
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About the Author, Susan Friesen
Located in the lower mainland of B.C., Susan Friesen is a visionary brand strategist, entrepreneur, and founder of British Columbia’s premiere boutique web development and digital marketing agency, eVision Media.
With over 20 years of experience in the industry, she is an expert in helping businesses establish their online presence and create a strong brand identity.
Her passion for empowering entrepreneurs and small business owners to succeed in the digital world has earned her a reputation as a leading authority in the branding and marketing industry.
Visit www.BrandIdentitySteps.com and download your FREE guide: "Unlocking Customer Trust and Business Growth: Your 7-Step Guide to Defining a Compelling Brand Identity that Appeals to Your Perfect Clients".
