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The goal of any web site is to inform and attract new customers. An outdated look and/or incorrect information detracts from these goals. It just might be time to take a good look at your current site and start taking steps toward making improvements. Reach out to your web designer and discuss design updates. Make sure your employee list is current and you include a comprehensive list of services and products. Are all of your hyperlinks still working? Would you like to add powerful features like a shopping cart, blog or photo gallery? If you use a site builder tool like TOAST.net’s Web Presence Builder some of the content changes are easy to make on your own. If you are really savvy you may even be able to update design elements within your site. If you don’t feel you are ready to tackle the design … contact your web designer for advice. Remember that your goal is not only to have customers find your site but for them to gain valuable information about your company when they get there.
That brings me to my next point… how are they getting to your site? Are your customers sitting at a desktop computer? Are they in their car (in the passenger seat) searching for your store? Your web site needs to be mobile-friendly, easy to traverse while on a mobile device or tablet. Check to see if your web design tool automatically creates a mobile version of your site, or has a responsive theme. Site design tools can help you quickly build and maintain a beautiful website that is fully functional on all devices.
Once you have published your newly redesigned website it is now time to take a break, right? Wrong. Revisit your site at least once a month. Make sure all content is up to date and that your web site design software has been updated to the latest version. Hackers are often able to enter a site through security vulnerabilities that reside in outdated software versions. Although time-consuming, making sure you are using the latest and greatest software is critical for the security of your site. With sites hosted at TOAST.net you can set WordPress, its plugins and themes to automatically update to the latest version. Our Web Presence Builder automatically updates so that you are always developing in the latest version.
New Year – maybe it’s also time to say – New Website!