Broken Down On The Information Super Highway.
Is Your Web Site Out Of Date?
Written By Jay Grove
posted on December 31, 2007
jay@jaygrove.com
Is your web traffic as strong now as it was when you first opened your site? Is your web site still the first place that your customers go for information about your business? Is your site informative enough so that it’s the last place that they have to look? If you’ve answered “No” (or “I Don’t Know”) to any of these questions, it’s time to have your web site professionally updated.
What is professional updating? It means going beyond just updating your site with current photos or new products and contact information. Professional updating looks at everything from the layout and navigation, to the actual code and software used to develop your site. Think of it as a makeover for your business. You’ve invested the time and money to put together a web site for your company; make your web site keep up its end of the bargain.
Still Web Sites Run Deep - Remember the old commercial that asked ‘How Many Licks’ it took to get to the center of a candy-filled lollipop? Well a poorly designed web site will have customers asking ‘How Many Clicks?!’, and then moving on to view your competitors. Information on your site should be easy to find and not require page after page of clicking deeper into the site. When your web company updates your site, they will look for weaknesses in your navigational structure and create new categories and links if necessary. Web surfers will make a decision to stay or go within three seconds of viewing a page. If your information isn’t right there, customers won’t be either.
Ready For Your Close-Up? - Ever looked back on your high school pictures and cringed at some of the fashion choices that you made along the way? Although they may send chills down your spine now, at the time it seemed like a very cool way to go. The same theory applies to the way that your web site looks. That multi-colored, spinning 36-point font that might have seemed pretty cool when you first built your site has gone the way of feathered bangs and Aqua Net. Your site needs to project the same image that you would want if a customer was meeting you face-to-face. This goes for your e-mail as well. Running your site on a free hosting site and using an AOL or Yahoo account to conduct business screams “hobbyist” to your potential clients. Your customers trust you with their business, and will wonder how you’re going to take care of them if you’re not serious about taking care of yourself. An update will not only address the navigation of your site, but also insure that your look is on par with other sites in your industry.
Left Out In The Code - It’s one thing if your customers don’t understand all of the code that makes your web site run… it’s a bigger problem when their computers don’t understand it either. What’s the point in updating your site with brand new product pictures and descriptions if all your potential customers can get is that darned blank box with the funny logo in the corner? Trying to keep a site fresh with outdated code and software is the same as answering your business calls with “’Tis he, who art thou?” A professional update will look to make sure that your site is making use of the most recent technology available, allowing newer computers to display your new content properly.
So what’s the result of all of this testing and testing? More traffic with more staying power. So not only are you getting more unique (non-returning) visitors, but those visitors will stay longer and find their information faster. You’ll also be letting the masses know that you’re ready for business and be able to grab a stronger hold on your market. Contact a web design company and let them know that you’re ready to upgrade. Many companies will even assess your current site free of charge.