Is it time to refresh your small business website?

How long since you’ve updated your site? Or added some new content? Or checked how you’re ranking in search engines? Or thought about the kind of people you’d like to be visiting your site?

Having a website is good for your business, it’s the primary way new customers or clients can find you. You know yourself, when you’re looking for a new product or service, the first thing you do is jump on Google and look around at what’s on offer.

If it’s been a while since you’ve thought about your website, heres a list to get you thinking.

Your goals

• What is the primary goal of your website, what do you want it to do for your business? Are you trying to get more sales, get people to phone, sign up for a newsletter etc?
• What are the secondary goals for the site? What supporting functions should the website provide to your business? Build your credibility, tell customers more about you?

Your business objectives

• Is your current website still right for you? Do you have a CMS that you can use? Do you have a static website, but wish you could edit it?
• Are you still happy with the design of your site? Does its’ look and feel accurately portray your business? Remember that this is often the first time someone ‘meets’ your business so you need it to look good and function well.

Your customers are your audience

• Have you thought about the audience that your website is targeting? Do you know what age bracket they are, what sort of work they do, are they individuals or businesses, what’s their primary reason for visiting your site?
• Have a think about the elements on your website. Is each one of them providing maximum value to your users? Are there other things that would be more valuable to users instead?

Analyse your site

• Have you checked the statistics and analytics on your site? What keyword searches are bringing in visitors? Are users coming in from other websites? Are they leaving after only visiting one page?

Thinking about a new website

• If you’re thinking about a new website, what visual elements, photos, links would you like included? Have a look around at some other websites to work out what you like and don’t like. Don’t just stick to your own business type, look around at a lot of sites.
• What is your budget? A fully redesigned and built site will cost more than a makeover to your current site. If you’re already using a CMS like Wordpress or Joomla, changing the template is quite simple.
• What’s your timeline for having changes made to your website?
• Who is hosting the website? Do you already have web hosting? Are you getting the best value for money with your current plan?
• Is your website consistent with marketing materials; letterhead, business cards, brochures, signage?
• What types of information do you want on your website? Images, documents, testimonials, links to affiliated organisations, downloadable documents, pdf’s etc

How well are you ranking in search engines?

• How high is your website showing in search engine rankings? Have a think about the types of words your audience would use to search for your type of product or service? Are you number one? Are you on the first page?

The content on your site

• Is your content able to be shared? Is it interesting to users? Do you have buttons for sharing on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest etc?
• Are you using social media? If you are, are you providing interesting and posts with value to your audience? Do you have goals in mind for what you want your social media to achieve? Do you have buttons placed on your website so visitors can follow you?
• Do you have a blog? Are you focussed on creating articles that entice users to your website? Are they providing useful or valuable information to your audience? Are they providing an insight into the quality of your product or service, or your business personality?
• Are you conscious of inviting users to do something? This is a ‘call to action’, are you providing simple and clear steps that you want your audience to take? “Phone now”, “Sign up for our mailing list” are good examples of a clear call to action.

I hope that this list has inspired you to think some more about the value that your website provides to your business, and give you some ideas on the steps you can take to improve it.

If you're looking for a new website or looking to expand your reach with online marketing and advertising, give us a call on 03 5439 5801 and see how we can help you.