Five ways to know that you need a new website for your business…

You avoid telling potential clients that you actually have a website..

Simply because you feel that your existing website doesn’t reflect or portray a proper ‘corporate image’ … so you don’t like telling people about it!

I like to attend business networking events and often, when I ask business owners if they have a website they say, “Yeah, but it’s old and I haven’t updated it for a while.”

If this is the case with your business, what impression are you giving people you connect with if they ask about your website?

You pay or paid nothing/very little for your website

I have often spoken with business owners who have never been too enthusiastic about their ‘free’ website. The fact is ‘free’ web services are never free …Whilst you may not have to actually part with any cash you will pay in time …intrusive advertising on your website, poor design and branding, unanswered phone support and unreturned emails.

Some business owners tell me that they get a ‘free’ site as long as they pay for web hosting, which in truth means they are paying around £300 – £400 for a website which appeals to neither visitors or search engines.

A relative or friend of the family designed the site

If you wanted a bathroom fitting wouldn’t you call a plumber? Do you not pay professional fees for an accountant?

Business owners pay good money for professional services, yet think nothing of having someone ‘knock-up’ a website for them on the cheap.

A well-designed website is a VITAL tool for any business! The overall ‘look’ and ‘feel’ of the site tells people in a few seconds what you do and why they should use you, what impression does your website give people?

Your website isn’t compatible across all browsers

The days of designing websites which ‘work best in Internet Explorer’ have long gone. Even with the movement to kill of Internet Explorer 6 (IE6), that still leaves IE8, Firefox, Chrome, Safari and Opera to think about.

Your site might look really good in Internet Explorer, but breaks in Safari … think of the growing number of people using iPhones and other mobile browsers to view your website … what will their first impression be of your company?

Your website hasn’t been updated since it went live

Would you recruit someone to look after sales and marketing, pay them good money each month and then … fail to look at them, speak to them, train them, pay them any attention or even tell anyone about them?

Would you let this carry on for the next two or three years?

So why do the same with your website?