Does your site look like it was built by your grandpa?
Does this sound familiar?
You launched your business a few years ago and focused on building your brand locally – meeting new people; going to networking events all over the city; putting up a simple website built by a friend-of-a-friend; investing in a few advertising opportunities; and just bustin’ your back to make those initial connections – and it paid off. You now have a good stream of regular business, people are bringing work to you, and you’ve earned a reputation for doing great work.
Your business has grown and developed over the years, but if you’re still rockin’ that same site, you might be plateauing or making it harder to land the projects you really want to work on. And, chances are, your business has specialized in services that you don’t have on the site, so anyone looking for them online won’t find you.
Keeping your website current isn’t about making it look pretty. It’s a smart way to stay connected with your target audience, stay relevant with SEO, and give your prospects quality content that builds trust in your brand.
Here are 5 signs that your site might not be up to date:
1. You haven’t jumped on new tech
Have you built an opt-in through Mailchimp yet? Or designed interactive ads through AdSense? Then you’re already behind your competitors. There are tons of inexpensive (and even free) software that you can use to optimize newsletters, sales funnels, advertisements, audience-building, and other key functions. And the best part? The majority have an abundance of self-help videos and articles to allow even the most unsavvy to gain the skills necessary to use these tools.
2. Your content isn’t current
It may sound obvious, but maintaining your website’s information and keeping it current will help your business look polished and professional: if your site’s information is misaligned with your other social platforms, it’ll cause confusion for potential or returning customers. They need to recognize your brand in everything you do. If your site looks like it was created in 2005 or looks terrible on mobile devices, people will think you’re old fashioned and unable to keep up with newer, better businesses.
3. You talk about yourself, not your customers
When someone visits your site, they have one key question in mind: “What can you do for me?” Telling someone “I fix clogged drains” isn’t as effective as saying “You’ll never have to reach for the plunger again.” Look at the copy (the marketing term for the words on the page) to make sure it’s delivering the message you want to give prospects and customers.
4. You have content all over the place
If your site is overly busy and filled with unthemed, inconsistent content, you’re making it harder for your audience to navigate to what they want. Your site should be clean, clear, and consistent – if you’re a plumber, it should talk only about plumbing. If you’re an electrician, it should be about electricity. If the imagery doesn’t support your trade or brand, it needs to go.
Another benefit of streamlining your images is it can improve pagespeed loading times – the faster your site is, the better Google likes it. It’s a small factor in SEO, but it’s an important – and easily managed – one.
5. Your site isn’t mobile-friendly
Think about where you are when you’re searching for a product or service you need – are you on your cell, a tablet, or on your computer?
57% of your traffic will be driven from mobile. If your site isn’t optimized for mobile, you’re risking over half of your inbound traffic. How ever someone gets to your site, you want them to have a positive experience, no matter what device they’re using.
Mobile-friendliness includes looking at the text size and layout, ensuring buttons aren’t too small or too close together, and ensuring images are served correctly, which saves bandwidth and loads faster on slower connections (not everyone is on LTE or WiFi at all times.)
Sounds easy, right?
Want to know if your site sucks? Sign up for a free website evaluation and we can let you know what’s working and what needs help.