Inbound marketing, internet marketing, blogging, facebook, twitter, Pinterest, search engine optimization and on and on...... your eyes are probably spinning like the wheels on a slot machine trying to keep up with it all! It seems like just a few years ago just having a website was all your business needed to establish an online presence. You ran out and hired a geek to put something online for you or maybe you got brave and ventured out in to the world of web design on your own using one of many online drag and drop website builders. BUT... now you are starting to realize that your website just isn't doing it for you. Whether you are not getting the traffic you are looking for, not converting the traffic you do get in to viable leads or your website is just plain ugly, you know that its time to consider redesigning your company website.So what do you do now?
redesigning your company website is no small undertaking. It is not something you should take on without considerable thought given to why you want the redesign and how you will approach the project. Your customers are probably used to your current website and it is easy to scare them off by being "that guy" who redesigns their website every time they see a cool new design or because your creative (or so he thinks) CEO thinks it's time to spice up the company website and get some of that "internet marketing stuff".
Before jumping in to the project ask yourself these questions
- Why are we redesigning our website?
- What are we trying to accomplish with the new website?
- What kind of look/feel do we want for our new site?
- Who is going to be doing the website design and development?
After you answer those questions you have to be sure that you proceed with a plan and a knowledge base that will help you accomplish what you want. You'd hate to redesign the entire site and end up with a trendy and attractive site only to find out that it is no better at capturing and converting leads than what you had before. Attractive websites (like that hot girl in high school who thought she was going to make it rich as a model and now serves at Denny's) will only get you so far. Eventually the appeal of a sexy new website will wear off and you have to be sure that you are left with a functional website that has specific calls to action, is adaptable and easily manageable.
Internet marketing is not something you do by simply redesigning your website. Internet marketing has to be something that your company commits to as a strategy for success. At the rate the internet is growing, more people are making their buying decisions online. At the very least they are researching your product online before they make a buying decision. It is important that what they find online is interesting, simple and effective at portraying your product and company mission.
By understanding your work flows and sales process in the real world and converting those to actionable items online your new company website can help your business with all of your?internet marketing needs. Your website is simply your online storefront and point of contact with the world. It should reflect your company values, branding, feel and attitude. Treat your new website with the same thought process, research and due diligence that you would give to opening up a new office/location for your business and it will be a success!
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