What’s With Your Ugly Website?

‘Their website doesn’t do them justice,’ was a comment I heard from an acquaintance recently who wanted me to talk to a particular company about their digital marketing. My first thought was ‘so why don’t they do something about it?’

The quote is nothing new; in fact I’ve heard something similar several times in the last month by various people. It beggars the question, in this digital age we live in, why isn’t their website up to scratch and representative of who they are and what they do? We know by now a web search is the first point of call for many people looking for help or a product to buy and there are only a handful of seconds to persuade a visitor to click on more. Why risk the lousy visit, someone who probably won’t ever come back?

(You can listen to the article here, 3mins)

Here are my thoughts:

1. Why doesn’t your site represent what you do, that’s just dumb isn’t it? Even if you can’t do a refresh, at least make the content clearer.
2. Fashions change, so your website should have a new look every 2 years. That could be a simple image change or tweaks to the main template. For some it will mean a whole new look but if your business depends on a well performing website, it’s got to be worth it.
3. You wouldn’t use an out of date image of yourself online, so why would you your website?
4. It’s a silent sales person, with a voice!
5. Your competition is looking good. So why aren't you?
6. If you’re driving traffic to it with digital marketing and Google ads, you’re probably wasting your money.
7. Finding a good web designer is fraught with challenges I hear you, so ask around and ‘look’ around at what you like.
8. Is the key message you want to say obvious and in line with your business goals and values?
9. Factor the expense of a refresh or rework in your marketing / sales budget and get it done.
10. You wouldn’t dream of never washing your store windows and changing the look at least seasonally yet you leave your online brochure untouched for years. Pass me the duster!

I’ve told prospects in the past that there is no point us working together until they’ve sorted their website out, it would be a waste of their money. Why would I drive traffic to a hideous site, only for their prospect to turn their nose up and leave as soon as they’d got there? It’s not worth the poor results we will both get from the effort.

Blue Banana's isn’t perfect I’m sure, but I know the content changes and it gets refreshed around the two-year mark, just like the photo of myself that I use online. Add it to your to-do list and if it’s really bad, get it done before the end of the year so you’ll be ready will a new look for the new year.

See your site for what it is – an online representation of your company silently selling while you go about doing whatever it is that you do. Your website is the first time many will see your brand, make sure your visitors are pleasantly surprised and encouraged to find out more.

P.S. I don’t sell websites, but plenty of web developers do. You might need to go shopping.

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I am the author of three books (Wiley) on social media marketing and building relationships and you can find them all here. You might like to subscribe to me for more useful updates and if you are looking for a speaker or trainer for your next event, do get in touch