For the savvy entrepreneur, advertising is key to success in business. Whether the business is online or in-store, the Internet plays a huge role in advertising products and services to potential customers. Because of the advent of online advertising, business owners have to create websites that not only attract the attention of consumers distracted by a glut of advertisements that appear in both their email accounts and on the internet in general, but they also have to compete with other businesses offering similar deals. For this reason, refreshing or redesigning a website is an excellent way for your business to gain the competitive advantage in this high-tech, consumer-driven society.
Proprietors looking to revamp or improve their image might refresh or redesign a website for three main reasons:
- When a business first opens, the content and design of the web page is appropriate for prospective clients. However, just as consumer demand changes, businesses must also step in line to attract clients. Old information and images that do not reflect new changes or policies that have been adopted can confuse, or even turn away, prospective customers. As the company evolves, the information and images on the site should reflect the business’s current brand and environment.
- Furthermore, the content in the website should engage, not confuse, readers. Many sites have more than one contributor to its content, so the tone and style of the language may not seem consistent, which may distract and confuse readers. Updating the site so that the language is concise, easy to read and consistent in tone and voice can engage prospective customers.
- Also, if links on the site do not work, this neglect can detract from the website and may lead customers to believe the site is not maintained frequently. Revamping the site so that the links work and the language is clear and concise cannot only attract consumers, but it also reflects to consumers that your business is a professional establishment.
Websites that attract and retain customers are maintained often, so that information being conveyed is relevant and current for the business environment.
However, before changing the face of a company website, proprietors should determine the business’s requirements. For one, a website may only need to be refreshed and not redesigned. When a site is refreshed, the substance of the website is kept, but site owners make a number of small changes, like changing the color menus and changing text size, making the site appear updated. A website redesign, conversely, changes the functionality of the site, i.e. adding and removing links from the website. Either way, questions to consider when deciding to refresh or redesign include:
- Has it been more than three years since the site was changed?
- Has the brand changed significantly since the site was updated?
- Is difficult for you to manage and edit the site?
- Is the site user-friendly?
- Can customers access information easily?
- How much will a revamp of the site cost?
Answering these questions will help in determining whether the site needs a refresher or needs to be completely redesigned.
Once these questions have been answered, revamping the site to attract customers is not difficult. First, look for glaring faults like ads that are dated or pages with broken images or dead links. Exchange words for pictures that can sell a product or service while minimizing the use of lengthy sentences. Clean up excess material on the website by using public domain images, or pictures that convey the same ideas as wordy language. Maintain the site by adding affiliate links and perusing viewer comments to see the progress of the site. Also, identify most visited pages on the website and improve those areas while encouraging viewers to visit other places on the website. Find native advertising opportunities that will allow you to sponsor ads on the site while working on finding a style for your own site. Finally, by using social media to spread the word regarding your business’s products or services and making your site mobile friendly, you make the site accessible to consumers from any medium.
Website content, both images and language, contribute to the overall success of a business. Information that is outdated or that no longer reflects the brand’s mission or sites that are not user-friendly contribute to whether a site engages its intended population. By refreshing or redesigning your website, consumers will not only pay attention to information on the site, but these changes can lead to referrals on other websites and higher search-engine rankings for your business.
