On November 17th of last year, my friend Lorraine Ball from Roundpeg presented at ECI Social Media Group. Her topic was websites and her first question was, “Is your website doing what you want it to do?” If you get the chance to see Lorraine present do it. Because her presentations are a rare combination of insight, entertainment, and useful takeaways. I came back to the office with two pages of notes (yes, I still use pen and paper). However, one of her points was heard loud and clear by the more than fifty attendees. The message was websites are fluid.

I like to sit in the back row of presentations so I can watch the reactions of the audience. When Lorraine began talking about keeping your website up to date, I saw many heads nod, and even more look away or glance at the floor hoping not to be called upon. Too often people think having a website built is where it ends. Having a website built is where it begins.

Keeping up with Your Website

Content

Your website needs continuously fed content unless you don’t care about SEO (Search Engine Optimization). If you want prospects to find your business on an organic search, keyword stuffing is no longer the answer. You have to provide valuable content on a continuing basis. The easiest way to do this is by blogging. Video, eBooks, and case studies are other ways to feed your site.

Keeping up with the times

Ten years ago, most web developers looked at mobile as an afterthought. Today, the best developers begin the design with mobile in mind. Mobile is only one example, how people consume websites and how sites function continues to change and you need to change with them or be left behind.

UX

If you don’t know what UX is you’d better learn fast. It’s user experience, and that’s becoming more and more critical. If you don’t offer a friendly user experience prospects no longer have the patience to deal with your website. They’ll go elsewhere. And it’s not only having an easy to navigate site, but segmenting to the needs of individual visitors.

Is Your Website Meeting Your Expectations?

Is your website doing what you want it to do? If not are you doing what you need to do to maintain your website? Are you feeding it the content it needs or was the last time you posted a blog 2015? Are you staying on top of the ever-changing landscape of web development? Is your site welcoming or annoying? If you’re not getting what you want out of your website it might be because you thought it was a onetime deal, like Lorraine said, “The isn’t ‘Field of Dreams’ just because you build it doesn’t mean they’ll come.”

Photo Credit: Unsplash Photos Unsplash Photos