Your website is an organic, breathing business tool. If you want it to keep on generating traffic and making sales, you’ll need to update it pretty frequently.
The changing behaviours of digital marketing mean website makeovers are a necessity, not a choice.
That’s ok though, because you have to remember that your website isn’t a parking space. It’s the shiny face of your business, the marketplace that generates income, the salesperson that talks to customers about your product or service and what they need, and builds a list of fans you can connect with.
Updating and redesigning your website is a task that should be scheduled into your regular business activities. Sometimes changes will be small, at other times quite large.
- Your website must consistently represent your brand and your products accurately, and target your audience appropriately
- It may need tweaking in terms of navigation and clearly funnelling prospective customers to a sale
- Technology changes, as it does your business may benefit from a website makeover to implement this new technology. For example a few years ago it may websites were not compatible with mobile devices
- Google change their algorithm often, sometimes over 500 times a year, this can cause your ranking in search engines to change, sometimes drastically
- A modern fresh-faced website is a great marketing tool in itself
- You can use your website to hold an online launch and invite customers and potential customers to see the new look
Let me explain why:
Essentially, a website makeover ensures your site is working as powerfully, consistently and as effectively as it can. It won’t do this if it’s neglected, because the digital universe moves at light speed.
New targeting techniques are always popping up (like smart content, which modifies the site according to the user, so they see what’s most relevant to them), and these tools give your website even more power – as long as you integrate them!
A professional web designer (ideally, you want someone who is a Google accredited digital marking specialist as well) is the best person to review your site from top to bottom, and put together a recommendation for updates.
When I modernise a website, what you see on the screen is only one part of the recommended changes. The aesthetic update can be major or minimal, but the behind-the-scenes changes will really give your site its mojo back.
- First, your site must be updated so that it’s on-trend.
If your website looks old or out-dated, searchers will assume you and your product are that way also. It must portray your brand messaging loud and clear, and feature eye-catching graphics and relevant content. Website stylisation changes pretty regularly, and you’ll be a winner if your site has a contemporary look and feel. - You can quickly lose your high search rankings.
This costs you sales and enquiries. The online world changes rapidly, and part and parcel of having an effective online presence is checking your analytics to determine how effectively your site is optimised for search engines and creating a plan of action to increase traffic, rankings and the time visitors stay on your site. - You must make sure your site is still easy to navigate.
That includes eliminating broken or out-dated links that look unprofessional and create a frustrating user experience.
- According to Google, more than 50% of searches come from mobile devices. If yours isn’t mobile responsive, you’ll lose your viewers immediately. This one definitely isn’t optional – you need to consistently make sure your site works beautifully on all
- Your website should link directly to your social media profiles to increase customer engagement.
Instagram, Facebook and Twitter are marketing tools – customers can share your page or website, leave positive reviews and engage with you quickly. These links also tell Google that you are a reputable business - People these days don’t have the patience to wait for a slow site to load. I don’t, I know that much! A clean-up of the back end of your site will make it work more efficiently, increasing load times for your viewers and maximising your site’s SEO.
- Adding other new features can help your site engage with customers. For example, adding a chat bot, enquiry forms, photo galleries, blogs and newsletters, and e-commerce functionality can boost your site’s performance.
Google works a little like high school, the site it likes best has the score closest to 10. Google bots crawl your site more often the more often you update it. Quality score is calculated by a complex algorithm that changes fairly regularly, but a basic explanation is the more relevant Google considers you the better your score.
Personally, I also really love working on website redesigns, because like so many other makeovers I get great satisfaction from seeing something transform. The finished results are so rewarding!
As a website designer and online marketing specialist, it’s my pleasure to work with clients to bring some digital magic back to their website. I’m more than happy to chat about how we can help you with your website makeover.
Feel free to contact me anytime here. My door is always open.
