We’ve all seen them–bad websites. Everything from the ones where the color scheme reminds you of your Aunt Mildred’s retro mismatched living room to chaotic navigation which makes you feel like you’re playing a game of Frogger rather than searching for a page on a website.

If we admit it, we know that some bad websites happen to best of us. This brings us to the classic question of struggle “Why do bad websites happen to good people?”

Reason #1 Failure to see website as an investment

A website is like a vehicle (except a website actually makes money for you). A website needs to be updated regularly, tuned up and maintained. Good websites are ones that are constantly reevaluated and keeping customers engaged. Successfully websites need to be changed all the time. We’ve heard sad customers that said “My website didn’t make me any money”. When we ask if it was updated regularly, the answer is no.

Once a website is created, that is just the beginning. Regular content updates, new SEO keywords and new marketing strategies need to keep up with your specific industry. Don’t let your investment get dusty in the corner. Keep it in good shape by adding regular updates. CMS based sites are great solutions for this.

The key to web success is maintaining and updating a site properly.

Reason #2 Forgotten purpose

Is your purpose to increase sales? To get people to subscribe to your newsletter? To view your product image gallery? Then make that the central focus.

Don’t let the good stuff on your website distract from the best.

Is the purpose of your site to encourage users to read about an innovative product offering you have? Then this should be the main focus of your home page. You may have dashingly good looking corporate team members, but if your focus is the innovative product, you don’t need to have corporate profile face shots on the front page of your website. Sounds too simple doesn’t it? But this is one of the most common mistakes in the web world. Keep the main thing the main thing.

Reason #3 Doing it yourself

Lets face it. You’re busy. The details of your business consume your whole day. You don’t have time to manage a website.

We often hear “But its cheap to do it myself.”

We can’t argue that cheap is cheap, but unless you’re an expert, doing your website yourself will not produce the results you’re looking for. And it won’t reflect the professionalism and caliber of your business.

How much time do you want to spend figuring out how to update a site, learning about SEO, setting goals for the progress of your site,  keep up with the latest keywords, etc.  Your time is precious. Let us handle the details of your website, so you can focus on running your business.
Professional businesses need professional websites.

You need someone who has a proven track record and who will be around in the future, a company that is committed to your web strategy, knows your purpose and will advise and suggest regular updates to your site.
Contact IT Hands today for a free consultation.