Top 10 reasons you need a website and style update
by Barbara Schmidt, Marketing Consultant and Creative Lead, studiobstyle.com
1) Your messaging is tired.
If you see the same terminology over and over again, it’s time to get a fresh perspective. “Disrupter, Bringing to Life, Authenticity and Storytelling” is starting to sound rote. I had a design assistant that told me, “if you have to say it, it’s probably not so. “ So show me, don’t just tell me.
2) You rely on still imagery for the bulk of your website and social media.
Your competitor’s websites are built with video. You know why? Because at a minimum, it’s four times more effective. Make that change now – you need to.
3) Your website navigation is so nested your audience can’t find what they are looking for.
A website is a qualifying resource, not your company’s Wikipedia. Share “just the facts ma’am” and maybe a few case studies with results (not “storytelling” because that would be telling me the obvious). Time is money so get to the point quickly and concisely. The elevator speech should be there plus a bit more, but don’t get hung up on telling your audience everything because there should be a reason to connect.
4) Your photography is more than 5 years old.
That’s right, very few photos can withstand the half-decade mark unless they’ve been retouched. Too much yellow, glowing, poorly cropped and unfocused images float around out there. Remember that humans remember the worst, not the best photo when reviewing your gallery. Don’t ask me why, it’s just our nature.
5) You haven’t updated your blog in months.
We all get busy and then can’t seem to pull it together but take the blog page down if you aren’t going to keep up with it. No one will miss it anyway because you haven’t been posting. Consistency is the hallmark of social and digital media.
6) Your logo hasn’t been updated in ten years.
Even Coca-Cola updates their logo and so should you. Every logo can be brought into the current and maybe even future design aesthetics with the right designer. Are you targeting your market? Ask around and see.
7) You have no calls to action on your website.
This is probably the biggest issue with almost every website we look at in any industry. What do you want your audience to do once they get there? Seriously, is there something they can sign up for? (Not the blog you just took down) but how about a cup of coffee? A quick phone call, a hello? Give the people some sort of communication because that is why they are there.
8) You don’t update your website every year.
That’s right, e-v-e-r-y y-e-a-r. Times are a’changing faster and faster so look around in your industry and see what is going on. Try new ways to communicate whether it be animation (not cartoons but simple movement of objects or graphics) or stop motion or gifs or video. Every messaging tool can be measured as to its effectiveness digitally so test it and see how it works.
9) All for one and one for all.
If you have left over letterhead and business cards with the old logo and tagline please recycle them. Mixed messaging is one reason there are cracks in brand consistency. Everywhere you message, the brand should feel, look and sound like the same voice.
10) Don’t forget to Give Back.
Every company no matter how small should be giving back to the community in some way. Make sure to share that story on your website somewhere. If you have an intern program, you are giving back. If you have a donation program, you are giving back. If you have pet days at the office you are giving back. Ask your employees what they care about most and help give back where it counts.
