Tobin Lehman — January 12, 2018 — January 12, 2018
lukasbieri / Pixabay
If your website is more than two years old, it could be hurting you more than it’s helping. If so, this is your year for a website redesign.
We tend to forget about things that are not right in front of us. And for many of us, our websites are not the first thing we look at each morning. In fact, many of us would have to admit we have not looked at our website in the past two months. I consider that a problem. So this might be the year you need to consider that “thing” you need to drive leads to your business.
Here are some common issues that probably signal you are ready for a redesign in 2018.
1. Your Relationship with Your Website Might Be the Problem.
The biggest problem with websites is that most people have a relationship with their website like they do with the refrigerator. It’s there, it does what I think it does, and have no reason to think about it unless it breaks. You’ve got one, so you’re covered. Right?
Not exactly.
The right way to view your website is like a salesman for your company. Would you disconnect from your sales team for weeks at a time? Would you pay no attention to the information coming out of their lips in front of your potential clients?
What is the point of having a website if it does not help you in the sales process? If someone called you on the phone, would you be confident sending them to your website instead of taking a call yourself?
2. Have You Looked at Your Competitors’ Websites?
It’s amazing to me how infrequent many prospects look at their competitors’ websites. Have you looked at your competitor’s website recently? I hope in your analysis you’ve kept your competition under your thumb.
Your website sometimes only looks as good as the industry. If your competition just did a redesign, it’s time to break out the checkbook. This business version of “keeping up with the Joneses” may seem almost petty, but the truth is that letting your competition look better than you can pose a real risk to your business. As a business leader, you need to eliminate any advantage your competition might have over you. If they look newer, fresher, and more polished, you are at a disadvantage.
3. SEO, Mobile and Other Technical Issues
It should go without saying, but there are a few technical issues that would indicate your need to focus on a redesign.
- It’s not a mobile-ready website – meaning you don’t have a mobile, responsive version. Your entire website should be viewable and navigable on mobile.
- Your SEO is nonexistent. When you search for your industry and location, you should find your business. If you search for your keywords and you are not found, it’s time. You can fix this on your current site, but 75% of the time, it’s best to just start over.
- If you have any visual issues, or the design itself is over 3 years old, it’s time for a redesign. This is a recurring expense. A healthy business will invest 5-10K a year on website edits alone. And if it looks old, it could be hurting you.
4. You Can’t Point to the Value of Your Website.
If an advisor asked you what the value of your website is to your business, would you have an answer? This is another way of looking at the role of your website in your marketing. Is your website responsible for your lead generation? Does your website qualify and reassure your potential customers?
You should be able to quickly articulate the value of your website to your business. Sometimes this is simply a mental exercise we all need to think about, but sometimes, your website actually does not have a value.
In 2018, if your website does not have value to your business, you need to replace it or cut the cost.
What Options Do You Have?
There are many options when considering your website in 2018. You don’t have to build a bespoke website to achieve great design, or wait months to launch. Technology has changed and there are more options than ever. It’s a great season to rebuild.
Starters: Go with a Hosted Solution
Three years ago, the entire marketing world would have scoffed at the idea of using squarespace.com or a hosted website creation. (as a personal admission: I still scoff at wix.com, which I think is crap). But these platforms are for real, and actually allow you some good benefits for most simple websites. Budget for these can be anywhere from 2k-6k, based on the customization.
B2B Growth: Go WordPress
If you’re a company at or over 1M in revenue, you should have a proper website, with real SEO functionality and lead generation features such as ebooks, blogs, etc. You can use templates in WordPress to make the cost lower. We’ve done some sites this past year under 10K for a custom size with a predefined theme that have been great.
Brand Conscience: Custom Theme WordPress
If your brand and look are really important to your company, a full custom site would be required to really make your mark. You’re an established business and you have the capital to customize and control your brand image online. These can range from 10-15K based on what kind of functionality you might need.
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