Does Your Website Need a Makeover?

How to know when it does

How do you respond to change? Is it a like or dislike? With change, there isn’t usually a middle ground, because most people either love it or hate it.

Interestingly, there are obstacles to both sides of the change spectrum. For instance, if you implement too many changes to your business, consumers will not be able to keep up. On the other hand, if you shy away from change, consumers will think you are out of date.

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Although finding a balance is an important task, today we’re going to focus on businesses that need to implement change. As seen in the above video, there are multiple indicators that businesses need to watch for to see if they should make changes to their website.

The first sign is when your site doesn’t meet its current goals. This issue could be the result of several developers writing bad code on top of bad code over and over again. Instead of trying to correct a mounting problem, businesses are better off just starting from scratch if this occurs.

Secondly, if your website was built with tables, then it is time for an update. This format is both hard to read and hard for search engines to break down.

A third sign that your website is “behind the times” is if visitors are welcomed with a Flash intro. Experts always disapprove of this practice since it causes slow load times and compatibility issues, among other problems.

Another indication that your website needs a makeover is if you are not involved with social media. Now, some people will quickly object and say that social media doesn’t play a role in their industry. However, consumers are talking about everything from plumbing to retail on social media networks. Consumers like the connection and personalization that Facebook, Twitter, and other social platforms give them.

Fifthly, if your website is not mobile-ready, then it could quickly cause your business to fall behind. Consumers want the ability to access everything from their mobile devices. Websites that do not offer this capability could lose business.

Also, if you need a web designer to make even the slightest change to your website, you probably need to make some adjustments. Experts highly recommend content management systems for convenience and usability.

Lastly, when the call to action is not clear or effective, changes need to be made. Visitors need a simplistic process that doesn’t require them to create an account or to search for something. If it’s not easy, it reduces the visitor’s chances of taking action.

So, are ready to take these signs seriously and make some changes?

Is Your Headline Creative Enough?

When you only have at best a couple seconds to catch and keep someone’s attention on your Website, a good Home page headline is critical. What’s yours?

If it’s “Welcome to Our Site” you are definitely missing out. The best headlines identify the target market, promise a benefit they really want, and create enough curiosity to convince them to keep reading.

You don’t need or want to get creative with this. Because you don’t want prospects to have to think about your headline. You want them to understand right away how you can help them solve a problem, fill a want or achieve a goal.

Here’s a winner that’s anything but creative: “Corns gone in 5 days or your money back.”

In fact, it’s often best to use a proven headline as a template but change it to suit your products or services.

Take the well known headline selling piano lessons “They all laughed when I sat down at the piano…But when I started to play.” This could be tweaked for my Asian Cooking School client to “They all laughed when I invited them over for an authentic Thai feast…Then they tasted the food!”

By Stacy Karacostas -

When was the last time you had other people test your Website? If you’re answer is never, there’s no time like the present. Because while you may think your site makes perfect sense, you’re too close to it to be objective. It might not seem the same way to someone who doesn’t know thing one about what you do or sell.

The solution? Ask a few other people to review your site and answer—at a minimum—the following questions:

> What do I sell or do?
> Who is my target market?
> On a scale of 1-10, how easy it is to find and buy what you want, or take the next step towards hiring me?
> What’s the single, biggest idea or piece of information you’ve taken away from my Website?

You’ll be surprised at how often people’s answers won’t match your own beliefs about your Website. But armed with this knowledge you can make your site better.

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