Are you happy with your website? Really? Even if it has lost you potential customers, repeated business, and word of mouth leads, every week, that you’re not even aware of?
Your website might well be top of the search results for those all important key words and phrases, but how many of your visitors bounced back to the results list and moved onto the next website? Maybe there’s a reason for that?
Despite the fact that websites have an address, owning a website is more like owning a car than owning property – its value degrades over time, even more so when you fail to maintain it properly. And like a car, sometimes a complete restoration is needed to make it as valuable as it once was.
So, what does this mean to your business, and why is your existing site probably costing you much more in lost business than it would have cost to restore it to its former glory?
Your website represents your brand
Websites show their age. If your website hasn’t had a facelift for a few years, then your business begins to look old fashioned and behind the times. In some extreme cases your business may even appear to have expired because you’ve forgotten something important like changing a telephone number.
Even the longest running companies rebrand from time to time, to freshen up their appearance and benefit from a little PR campaign. Websites generally need re-branding (or redesigning) on a more frequent basis, but there’s no reason why your website redesign couldn’t take advantage of a similar PR offensive.
Don’t lose out on potential customers that decided your rival looked more professional and active.
Is your content still relevant?
Maybe your business has expanded. Maybe you offer new products or services, or your existing ones have evolved? If you’ve found yourself answering the same questions from prospective clients then perhaps that information could be included on the website? That saves you time answering queries, and we all know what time equals, right? *
Keeping your content fresh and up to date improves your search engine positions, but also shows your website visitors that you are still actively in business, and that you still care about your customers, your reputation and the industry you are in. It builds confidence in your company.
Failure to provide the visitor with the information they’re looking for could result in losing customers due to a rival telling them exactly what they needed to hear.
Re-assess usability and usefulness of your site
We all know that every customer wants good support, and their experiences with a company will generally affect the chances of them using you again, or being recommended to friends and family. By allowing your website to take the load on some of those customer support calls you get, they get the answers they need quickly, and gives you more time to concentrate on other jobs. This can only improve your customer support response.
Whether it’s useful articles or guidelines that your prospective or past customers will find helpful, or interactive website features that your visitors can use to make their life or certain tasks easier, they all improve your relationship with the customer. Making sure these articles and features are easy to find and easy to use is not only helpful to your customers, but can also be a cheap but effective marketing tool if your website address is passed on to others who want to share the knowledge or service you’re providing. It may well lead to another potential customer.
Boost the percentage of word of mouth and repeat customers by providing them with a great service.
* Money. Time = Money. Come on, surely everyone knows that?