Five ways your old website could be hurting your business

 

 

Whether you’re selling products or services, an easy to use, well designed site is an easy way to bring in website traffic, business, generate leads, and communicate with potential customers. 

 

Of course, not everyone has the time or know-how to create an effective and stylish website. You might think that this is fine, and that any kind of web presence is better than none at all. And that the placeholder site you have at the moment will do until you get around to sorting it out properly. However, what you might not realise is that an under-designed and poorly developed site can in fact harm your business. Rather than just being a neutral entity, your old website might be doing some damage - here are five ways this could be happening: 

 

A generic site for your goods and services, using stock photography and rushed copy, achieves little other than lumping you in with all the other similar providers in your area. If your site looks and feels like all your competitors’ sites, that’s exactly what potential customers are going to feel about you. If you’re not standing out, you’re instantly forgettable. And that’s one of the worst things anyone could say about your business. 

 

 

Every industry has its own lingo and jargon. This is used to help those within the industry communicate effectively. But if your customers are coming from an outside perspective, the technical information and terminology can be very off-putting. Remember that communication with your customer base is essential to forming good relationships. 

 

Whether these are official web safety logos, industry association memberships, accreditations or simply customer reviews, you need to have them front and centre on your site. More and more people are becoming savvy to fake sites, scams and other internet frauds. If you’re not making sure you let people know they can trust you, you’re essentially saying that they can’t. Once the trust is gone, it’s almost impossible to get back. 

 

When things change slowly over time it’s sometimes hard to notice the evolution. But if we showed you websites from 20 years ago you’d probably laugh at how rudimentary and amateurish they look. Of course, it doesn’t have to have been 20 years for something to look outdated. If you’ve not updated your site for several years, or simply made it yourself, it’s not presenting the business in the best light. Think how many times you may have changed your mobile phone in the past few years. It's likely that your old website is not a good mobile experience. A poorly constructed website indicates time for a change - check out what we could do for you. 

 

People generally aren’t interested in how your company came to be, where your first office was located, or what your dreams are for the business. They are interested in what you’re selling. So, make sure they understand exactly what this is. Rely less on text and more on high-quality images and, increasingly, videos to make your point. Video reviews, spec information, and demos all help to give people a clearer idea of what they are buying.