When is it time to get a new website?
Keeping an updated and overall good-looking website is key to keeping your business afloat. If your current or potential customers have nowhere to go look at who you are or what you offer, they will find someone who does.
Now, you may think your website is doing just fine when you set it up and leave it, but you’re sadly mistaken. Updating and keeping up with your website regularly is a huge help when it comes to your SEO, or Search Engine Optimization. If you analyze the keywords and content on your website and you optimize on what works in future updates, your website will do wonders in Google searches. If you’re letting your website sit, looking like it was created in 2002, people might not even know that’s the right website and the bounce rate will be incredibly high. Google loves frequent updates to your website, and they also love movement – any kind of videos you can implement on your website will get you on Google’s good side.
Another important aspect of your website is being user-friendly. If people can’t figure out where the information is or how to navigate your site, they will not want to stick around and try to figure it out. Especially nowadays, everything is mobile friendly. It’s important that websites are optimized for mobile viewers. If you create a site through a capable and higher-end provider, your website will more than likely be automatically responsive on mobile devices once you create and publish it.
The idea of more business would excite any business owner, and one way to do that is simply having a good website. If you allow your website to be updated, have content that makes people want to come back, and shows people who you are and what you do, there’s no telling how far your website alone can take you. It’s all about making sure you have the best information in the best places. Sometimes, that comes down to experimentation. Trying out different approaches will let you know what works best for you. More Business Online says, “Did you know that a fish will only grow as large as its environment allows it to? In the same way, the growth of your business, particularly if a large portion of it is online, is limited by the capabilities of your website.”
Information updates are also equally as important. Keeping your customers coming back to know what’s going on with your company is key in letting them know you’re active with your website, and that they’re in the right place. Some businesses I look up that have old, outdated websites make me feel like maybe I went to the wrong site. One page with no movement won’t cut it either. We’re all for updating and taking your time perfecting a website, but if you leave it stagnant and don’t work towards drawing your customers in, you’re losing time, money and business.
A great way of keeping people coming back for more is making the content you create easily shareable. Not only does that mean having the social media links readily available next to any video or blog post you may share, but also the content itself – it must be appealing enough for someone to think “Wow, I need to show this to ___.” Not only does that look good on your website when people see it’s being shared, but it also really helps bring in other people to your website, possibly creating new business.
Starting out with a reliable web design platform, like WordPress, will make things easier for you in the long run. Not only is this platform easily updated and customizable, but it’s also easily transferable. What I mean by that is say you’ve decided to hire an outside source to deal with the task of keeping your website updated. Let’s say you’ve created a site on that page but want things done that you can’t quite figure out. A platform that’s as customizable as WordPress, where you aren’t forced to pick a pre-made layout, will allow any outside source to easily pick up where you left off. Creating a website correctly the first time saves you a lot of time and money.
Sometimes, you need to ask advice from people outside your organization, because in your eyes, your website is probably fantastic in every way. A complete redesign, though it sounds scary, is normally pretty easily done, and necessary. According to the Huffington Post, the average redesign takes 3 months to complete, though a lot are normally quicker. Not to mention the fact that getting a new website is normally only 10% of your marketing budget (depending on the budget, of course).