Is Your Site Helping or Hurting?

Is your website a dinosaur? Three years in website age means your site is obsolete. Sure, you have a website, but simply having one isn’t enough. You need to know how your outdated website is hurting your business. If your site isn’t fresh, it’s time to update your website.

Your site is a dinosaur if …

We weren’t overstating that a three-year-old website is obsolete. Some media experts put two years as a more accurate expiration date. Sadly, many business owners don’t update their websites because they don’t see increased traffic from them. What they’re missing is how a redesigned website could turn that situation around.

So here are a few check list points to help you evaluate how an old website can hurt your business:

  • When was it designed? If your answer is three or more years, you need an intervention! If your answer is two years, start planning now to revamp your website. Customers quickly develop a “been there, seen that” mentality. If there isn’t anything new, customers quit coming back. It’s time to update your website!
  • Who designed your website? If you hired the next-door neighbor’s kid, it’s time to enlist a professional. Just because teens are adept at using social media, it doesn’t mean that they can build a technologically savvy business website. You get what you pay for. It’s time to update your website!
  • Is your website mobile-friendly? If your answer is “no” or “I don’t know,” you’re losing customers. The majority of searches are conducted on mobile devices. If you haven’t designed your website to scale for mobile, you risk alienating potential customers. It’s time to update your website!
  • Is flash animation your idea of cutting-edge? We have news for you: flash is passé. It’s only part of a common problem of visual clutter. Rather than attracting attention, clutter makes it harder for your customers to navigate your website and find the information they need. It’s time to update your website!
  • When was the last time you checked your ranking? Without fresh content, your ranking will sink, making it next to impossible to generate new customers because you won’t be found in organic search. It’s time to update your website!

The truth can be hard to take, especially if that website was one you designed. It was your baby. However, if you refuse to take a hard, honest look, that old website can hurt your business. It’s time to do something!

A dinosaur no more!

You know you have a problem; so what do you do now? First thing, call Solutio to set up a free consultation. We can help you address all five points in our checklist. Here’s what we can do to update your website:

  • There’s no excuse for an outdated website. You wouldn’t be satisfied with three years of dust on your shelves! Don’t be complacent about your website! Solutio can update your website and keep it fresh with new content in the form of monthly blogs and customer testimonials.
  • Whether it was the neighbor kid who designed your website or a professional—even us!—it’s time to rethink and redesign your website after three years. Solutio keeps up with all the latest trends in digital marketing and web design. If we didn’t, we wouldn’t stay in business. And we practice what we preach. Our website is about three years old and we’re getting close to launching a whole new site!
  • Technology has changed over the last three years. The desktop computer has its place, but well over half of all searches are now conducted on mobile devices – and this is ever increasing. Solutio can redesign your website with mobile in mind. Your website will function appropriately on either platform.
  • Attention-getting gimmicks fail to attract customers. Solutio doesn’t rely on all the bells and whistles, such as flash animation or fifty different fonts, to spice up a website. We stick to the basics: simple, elegant design and easy navigation. We clear the clutter. Your customers will thank you!
  • Ranking is everything in digital marketing. Solutio has experts in search engine optimization. Update your website and you’ll see a higher ranking. Freshen your content on a regular basis and you’ll keep it there. We can help you with constructing a new website and with keeping it fresh.

What Customers Want

Customers have a short wish list.

  • Contact info. Yep. They want your phone number. Don’t hide it in the fine print at the bottom of the page. Same goes for your business address and email. They can’t call or stop in without this vital information!
  • Your backstory. Customers want a sense of who you are. That goes for your staff as well. Digital marketing needs to connect customers to you—real people! As old-fashioned as it might sound, people want to know with whom they’re doing business.
  • Speed and ease. Customers are impatient. They hate watching spinning wheels waiting for a page to load. It’s all the excuse they need to move on to another website. And no one enjoys clicking on every drop down menu item trying to find the one you want because the headings aren’t clear.

An old website can hurt your business by not providing these basic expectations. Solutio will make certain that these key needs are met.

From dinosaur to dynamic

There’s one more element to a great website we haven’t mentioned yet. Let your customers know what you want them to do! It’s called a “call to action” in the marketing business.

What would you think of a sales rep who made business calls and never asked a client for the sale? Your website makes a sales pitch, but your pitch isn’t complete without telling your customers what you want them to do.

It’s a simple idea, and yet too many websites never bother to close the sale. Asking for the sale isn’t being pushy. It’s simply being clear!

So what does a call to action look like? It looks like this:

We’ve told you how an old website can hurt your business. We’ve told you how Solutio can update your website. The only thing left that you need to know is how to contact us.

So here’s how you can get ahold of us:

  • Call us at 989.486.9283
  • Stop in at 208 W. Wackerly in Midland during normal business hours

Is that so hard to do?

Does your once-stylish image from high school days now makes you cringe and say, “What was I thinking?” Just like a personal makeover that sheds your 1980s mullet or Aqua Net bangs, an updated look will do wonders for your professional image. You’ll love what we can do for your website!

You’ll have no reason to cringe when you look at your fresh, updated website designed by Solutio. Potential customers will be impressed by your professional image that reflects well on your business.

So what’s holding you back? Contact Solutio today!

 

 

 

 

Links:

https://www.vartuoso.com/2017/10/25/outdated-website-losing-business/

http://serpentinewebsolutions.com/5-ways-old-websites-hurt-your-business/

http://www.voovadigital.com/why-having-an-old-website-actually-hurts-your-business/

http://www.imaginatemedia.com/7-ways-bad-website-hurts-business/