Often, when new potential clients step into our office, it’s because they want to talk about the new website they would like to have us build. But occasionally, we have to ask: are you really sure it’s a brand-new web presence you need? Or, do you just need to start taking a different approach to Internet marketing?
In reality, it’s most often that both are needed, but the point we want to make today is that lots of business owners and executives jump to the conclusion that they need a new website when that’s not always the case. It could be that their current website is just fine for what they need, or only requires a few small upgrades to their on-page optimization. And more often than not, the desire for a new website is actually being driven by poor performance but with search engine optimization, social media, and other online marketing efforts.
With that in mind, there are a few things you should remember if you’re considering replacing a relatively-new website…
Websites Need to be Replaced Carefully
From the outside, the process of tearing down an old website and putting a new one in its place seems pretty simple. Behind the scenes, though, a good web design team will make sure content is transferred correctly and visitors are redirected from old pages to new ones. Otherwise, previous visitors who have bookmarked resources will get lost, and Google will penalize you heavily, meaning that it will be next to impossible for you to achieve a high search engine ranking in the future.
A New Web Flowchart Can be Disruptive to Current Customers
Another argument in redesigning your website with the same general flow – is that you may have existing customers who are used to it. If you start changing things around too suddenly, they might not know where to look for the products and/or resources they are used to finding online. If their frustration leads them to take their business elsewhere, you have a problem.
Make Sure You’re Replacing a Website for the Right Reasons
A new website with mobile compatibility, an upgraded content management system, and other features can be a great thing. In fact, it can help your business grow in numerous ways. But, if you’re simply replacing your website because you don’t have search engine traffic, can’t seem to attract fans on Facebook, or are seeing declining numbers from your email newsletter, then a new layout might not be what’s needed.
Remember that your business website is just the start of your online marketing plan. The things you do to promote it and keep it growing are ultimately the ones that make it valuable. So, it’s up to you to not only put the right marketing piece in place, but to make sure you have a plan to attract customers so they’ll find it.
Many times, when new clients come to see us, they can indeed benefit from getting a new website to re-launch their Internet marketing efforts. It’s important to know, however, that simply changing your web layouts or starting over from scratch isn’t necessarily going to fix everything. Instead, you need to pair any improvements that have been made with a new commitment to growing your site and keep it up-to-date in the future so it can be a valuable business tool.