Is It Time You Updated Your Website?
Nowadays a business's website is one of, if not the most important asset when it comes to generating enquiries and sales. Since the shift from high street shopping and face to face interactions has moved to a digital and online preference for many businesses and consumers, the importance of a website has grown rapidly.
Many businesses solely run online and don't have a high street shop or premises. Therefore, their website is their shop and in the same principle as a high street store, if you walked in as a potential customer and the shop was old, run down, laid out poorly and not very nice to look at, you would be instantly deterred from entering, let alone buying something.
The same principle works for a website, if you click through to a site and it looks dated, it's unresponsive and the layout and content is confusing, you will click off the site and move onto the next one, that looks nice, tells you what you need to know easily and effectively, and presents you with a simple option to buy what you need.
It is absolutely vital that you keep your website fresh and up-to-date to ensure the continued success of your business. Technology is constantly changing and so is marketing, you must keep up with these changes otherwise you risk falling behind and potentially losing out on hundreds if not thousands of potential customers.
What Does the Future Hold for Websites?
A number of websites that are currently live were built in the last 5 years. As you can imagine, website development and design has advanced an awful lot over that time. The future of websites is ever changing, but one thing is for sure and its already began. The shift to mobile.
Mobile devices such as smart phones and tablets are becoming increasingly popular and therefore vital for both websites and marketing in general. At the end of 2016, mobile web usage overtook desktop for the first time in history and mobile-connected devices are predicted to generate 68% of all internet traffic by the end of 2017.
This means one thing. You must ensure your website is mobile friendly and responsive to all screen sizes.
If a potential customer clicks through to your site and it isn't the correct size for the device they are using, it will instantly put them off and drive them away from your website. It looks unprofessional and no one wants to waste time trying to pinch their screen to get it to the correct size, often leading to endless scrolling and frustration, it is much easier to move onto the next website that is optimized for their device.
What do you need to do?
First and foremost, it is absolutely vital that your website is optimized for mobile devices. Whether this means editing your current website, or if your site is ageing horribly, getting an entirely new website altogether, the choice is yours. Either way, making sure your website is mobile optimized is key for the future.
Secondly, you must be vigilant and proactive when it comes to keeping your website up-to-date. Edit content, write blogs, let your audience know about the latest changes within your business and the industry it is in. Upload new photos, add new testimonials and remove products or services that you no longer offer. Keep your audience on their toes and give them great content to digest, this will drive website traffic, improve sales and most importantly, keep you and your business relevant.
Unfortunately, Small Businesses don't always have the time to regularly update their website content or don't have the expertise to build themselves a brand-new website.
Equinox Marketing specialises in helping small businesses with marketing projects that they don't have the time or expertise to complete themselves.
We offer affordable Website Maintenance/Upkeep and Website Creation services, so that you can focus on your clients, whilst we focus on helping you grow for the future.
For more information or a quote contact us now on 01934 643961 or email info@equinoxmarketing.co.uk