Most of the time, deciding whether you need a particular professional service or not is easy.
Think of lights in your house. If an electrician would call you every single day and ask if you need his services, you would tell him politely to stop contacting you.
Why? Because the lights in your house are working as they should. But the day when you wake up and not a single electrical appliance works in your house, you will desperately start looking for an electrician on Google. The quicker he can come, the better.
The same goes for most of the services. You call an accountant when you need your taxes done. You call a hairdresser when you need your hair done. You hire a gardener when your backyard is starting to look like a jungle.
However, a new website is something that doesn’t have the same urgency than other services and it can be difficult to determine whether there is a problem with your website.
I’ve worked as a digital marketing freelancer for some time now helping small business owners and startups building creative digital solutions which are tailored to their specific needs (in this case, websites).
Here are five questions to ask yourself to determine whether it’s time to renew your online presence.
Does my website really communicate what my business does?
Does your website tell your visitor what you do in 1–2 sentences as the first thing when they land on it? In addition, does it do that in less than 10 seconds, and in a way that they will remember you when they need your services? If not, your website fails to communicate your core message: Why are you in this business?
The biggest website mistakes businesses make on their websites are:
1. Speaking to their audience with industry jargon
2. Using too many stock photos
3. The number 1 and 2 on the list are put together in dime-in-a-dozen WordPress template that all of their competitors are using too.
Is my website driving leads and sales?
Website is the front window of your business. Before your prospective clients contact you, they check out your website. The key to successful lead generation is having a consistent Call-To-Action (CTA) throughout your website.
Your website should consistently encourage your website visitor to take the next step, whether it is to call you, request a free quote or book a consultation. If the website lacks a clear CTA about what you want your client to do next, then he will keep shopping around and go to your competitor.
If this currently not the case, you need a new website.
Can my website be found by people who are searching for my service / product?
Put yourself into your customer’s boots. They have a problem that you can solve. They go online and use keywords that are related to your business, which is not your brand name). Is your website in the first results of Google at least with one of the keywords you are thinking?
The thing is, just because you have a website, doesn’t mean that it is visible to your market. You need a new website that is built in a way that it is search engine friendly with relevant keywords to your business.
Does my website look like it’s from 2014?
If you haven’t updated your website in years, it is well past due. Imagine how much fast technology has improved in the past 5 years. So have website standards. What worked in the early 2010s, doesn’t mean it is still working today. Put it simply, an outdated website gives an outdated image of your business.
Is my website responsive on mobile?
Mobile website traffic makes up more than half of web visits around the globe. If your site isn’t compatible with mobile devices, you’re missing out on all those potential visitors.
Today, search engines gauge their search results from a mobile standpoint, not desktop. If your website is not designed to work in smartphones and tablets, you’re missing out big time.
“Yes, I need a new website!”
After reading this, you might be thinking to yourself: “I need a new website”. If that is the case, feel free to contact me here.
If you are a bit shy and need some time, that is ok too. Meanwhile, you can follow me on Facebook or LinkedIn where regularly share more articles like this.
