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Do you have a Love-Hate relationship with your website?
What’s your relationship like with your website?
Your website should be a digital reflection of your business.
You may completely love your website. It could have all of the information required about your business, help generate consistent leads and you may be able to fully manage changes to the site when required. Often, if you love your website, it is because it provides the correct representation of your business – one that makes you and your team proud and one which works to generate enquiries. A good website is one of the most important tools for your business.
Alternatively, websites can become outdated, their designs deteriorate and, over time, sites become difficult to navigate, causing frustration for the user and you as the owner. This can turn potential customers away, costing your business.
Does this sound all too familiar? If so, then let’s try and fix that love-hate relationship with your website.
What we’re going to cover:
- Why Comparison is the
- Thief of Joy When it Comes to Websites
- The Love-Hate Relationship with Websites
- What’s to Love?
- What’s to Hate?
- What’s the Solution?
Why comparison is the thief of joy when it comes to websites
When it comes to websites, it is estimated that there are a staggering 2 billion of them out there! Consequently, it is easy to get tempted into comparing your website with others. Whether you’re looking for inspiration, or just feel like taking a peek at what the competition does, comparison can truly be the thief of joy and prevent you from creating a site that is actually suited to your business.
When you compare, it is easy to get disheartened by the features that others have and start questioning why you don’t have them. However, the truth of the matter is that your business is unique and requires a website of its own. Trying to build a replica of someone else’s will not only be difficult but may not even capture what you are trying to convey, resulting in poor user experience and site performance.
It is healthy to compare, but if comparing your competitor’s website with yours frustrates you, then use that frustration constructively to build a better web presence for your business.
Therefore, the best way to approach website design is to focus on what your business needs and use that to create a custom site tailored to your business. Think of long-term goals, figure out the features that you need, distil it into wireframes or sketches and then start building! Before long, you will have a strong plan and strategy in place to develop a website that will serve as your most powerful platform for business growth.
The love-hate relationship with websites
Websites have now dominated the world of marketing for years, with a Google search often being everyone’s first step after hearing about a business. Some people love their site, whilst for some it is the bane of their life! Let’s take a closer look at some of the reasons why businesses both love and hate their websites…
What’s to love?
A website gives you full control of your marketing – think of it as the digital storefront of your business. You can use it to control all aspects of your online presence. Essentially, your website is the centerpoint for all of the information about your business, so it’s vital to have designated site pages and a clear format to organise all of the different aspects of your business. You can also track and measure everything that happens on your website to make sure you’re getting the most out of it. When you have a website that generates good traffic and conversions, you have a powerful tool in your marketing arsenal.
It’s also great for customer trust and loyalty when you have a website that’s easy to navigate and looks professional. If you’re serious about growing your business, investing in quality website design is worth the time and effort. The homepage and menu of your website play a huge part in how you are perceived, so it is great when you have a structure that works for your target market and keeps them on your site.
Ultimately, you want your site to actually generate business and for many, their website is their most lucrative marketing tool. Having that ability to effectively engage with your audience through blogs, embedded video content and creative copy is something that users and business alike both love.
"Comparison is the thief of joy."
-
Theodore Roosevelt
What’s to love?
Websites can be very time consuming and expensive, especially when not done properly! Development, maintenance, hosting and SEO all cost money, and they take up a lot of your team’s valuable time. Additionally, if you do not have expertise, it could be hard to create an effective website. Poor design, coding and content can all lead to a bad user experience – a good web design agency will help iron out those frustrating creases so that your team can crack on with their work!
Alongside the surface-level issues, an unsecure website can be the biggest headache for a business. Websites are vulnerable to hacking for ransomware or they can have sensitive information extracted from them which could breach GDPR. There are many ways your website can become vulnerable from outdated plugins to weak passwords; it is important to make sure you keep up to date with website security best practices.
You have to be extremely diligent and know how to identify the red flags of website hacking in order to put out any fires but also to prevent breaches. It can be time consuming and tedious to keep your website secure, however, it is of the utmost importance in the modern world. After building a good quality website, the last thing you want is for hackers to exploit vulnerabilities or for your business to fall victim to a GDPR fine.
There is also the risk of downtime or technical issues that could cause major disruption. Contact forms that are not working correctly can often go unnoticed, costing companies hundreds of missed enquiries. If you don’t have an expert on hand to fix the problem quickly, your customers may become frustrated and might decide to take their business elsewhere.
When it comes to websites, unfortunately, there are always challenges and potential headaches. Afterall, the internet and the world of websites is ever-evolving and unpredictable. A poorly designed website can look unprofessional, appear dated or not be mobile friendly – all of which will weaken your brand and deter customers.
Although having control over your digital presence is a great asset, it can also be quite time-consuming. It takes effort to keep on top of the latest trends in web design, as well as staying up to date on what customers actually want and need to see from their service provider. That’s why it is so important to enlist the help of a web design team that has expertise, a strong understanding of your business and can keep your website up to date, to help you achieve your business goals.
So, what’s the solution?
Your website should be an evolving piece of your marketing, so it’s vital that you are able to swiftly make changes that evolve with your business. Understanding what you love and hate about your website is key in understanding how to better your website.
To achieve this you need to make sure it’s optimised and can be easily indexed by search engines, is mobile friendly and works at an optimal speed. Nowadays, there are a wide variety of tools available to help you do this, so getting your website up to scratch should be a priority on your marketing list. If you don’t have the right resources or skills then you may find it difficult to make changes quickly or effectively.
Despite these downsides, websites remain one of the most important marketing tools for businesses. It’s an investment that can pay off if you have a clear plan and the right team in place. With a great website, you’ll be able to reach more customers, convert more leads and drive better business results.
We have created a unique offering with Website as a Service (WaaS), to help businesses love their website and maintain that love!
Our Website as a Service is a different approach to the industry norm whereby we work with businesses as an adjacent part of their team. Not only do we create an optimised website that’s fully tailored to them, but we also maintain it for them, carrying out any updates and amends and ensuring it grows alongside their business.
