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One of the most cost-effective and best ways to advertise your business is through your own website. When done correctly, your website makes your business easily accessible to anyone. There are many decisions that go into creating and updating your current design. Below I have broken down these key reasons into 3 different categories that can help you while updating your website.

• Design
• Marketing
• Usability

Let’s talk about Design first! There are three subcategories to always look for when updating your website.

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A good website will show visiting people a reflection of your business who you are. If your site looks professional and has content that is useful to your readers, you come out looking like an expert in your industry. The same goes for one that is poorly designed and structured. A website that is out of date and hard to find what you are looking for lets consumers start bad assumptions about your business. Your website should highlight the service or product and the layout should be consistent and cohesive.

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This should be no surprise to you, a website that is not responsive or mobile friendly always falls short in the consumer’s eyes and in Google’s ranking. Google announced that in 2018 there will be an updated algorithm for mobile-friendly sites in its search rankings. Research shows that consumers are spending twice as long on their mobile devices then they are on their laptops and PCs.

 

Having a responsive website design allows for your users to see your site on any device in a readable format. Have you ever been to a website on your phone, only to have to zoom in to press a link or even to read about who they are? This is why thinking “mobile first” has become a common practice in the business world.

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When updating, it is important to select content related to your objectives. Photography plays a big role on your site, and most businesses rely heavily on stock images. You need a good balance of photos that are truly yours (your product or service) and ones that are stock. This helps the consumer know that your website is not a fraud and you are selling real products.

 

Now let’s move onto another category, marketing. Marketing is broken down into four subcategories for you to keep in mind.

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Most websites have them now a day. Whether you are using a “call now” or “free estimate” call to action (CTA), remember that you need to place these on your website to drive prospective customers to become leads. Always think, as important as they are, are they interesting enough to persuade your visitor to complete the action?

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Are your measuring how effective your website is? A good example is heat mapping, conversion tracking, and analytics. You can use multiple tools like Google analytics to see how many people visit your site, and where they spend their time. You can also see where most people drop off. With an updated website, these tools are easy to implement. When your website is outdated, it may be hard to integrate these great tracking tools.

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Besides the overall layout, content is useful to the reader who visited. The reader is interested in the useful information that is on your website. A site redesign can also give you the opportunity to rewrite the copy that is on your website and simplify the information and effectiveness. Remember, you have 2-4 seconds to engage with new visitors on your website.

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With content comes your SEO. Updating your content can help you bring new keywords on to your site. You can refine your keywords, update them, and make them more relevant to the consumers you are trying to attract. The way people search and how they search is always changing and updating your website to help this ever-changing digital age can benefit how consumers find you.

 

Usability is our next category for your website. How easy is your website to use?

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When looking at user experience, you want to look at the experience your visitor is having with your website. Look into how fast your site loads, how easy it is to find information, and does your content load fast. Making sure your website is easy for a visitor to navigate ill help them stay on your page for longer.

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Is your website so slow that even you don’t even want to go on to it? Well then, that’s a problem! Your website should load in 5 seconds or less to keep your visitor interested. Consumers will easily go on to the next website if yours does not load fast enough. To see if your website loads fast enough, you can use sites like Google Page Speed Insights

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Updating your website is definitely easier and cheaper than a full redesign. By utilizing some of the points above, you can help improve your user experience and visitor presence. If you need any advice on your website today, please feel free to contact Revel In Design. We can help you with updating, maintenance, and redesigning your website. We fit every budget and can help you provide your customers with an experience they will never forget!

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