Because most marketers say that websites should be designed every 1-2 years, chances are you’re at least starting to think about the next version of your website. How do you know when the time is right for redesign? Here are three great reasons to help you evaluate the need.
Reason #1: You need to be able to manage content better
If you’re keen on the inbound marketing methodology to get more leads from your website, then you have to have a content management system in place on your website.
Content management systems make it easy to update your website yourself, which will come in handy since you’ll be updating and adding content that attracts your target audiences to your website regularly.
Here are some things to look for in a content management system:
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It can be designed and built in such a way where you can change about 90% of things on your website in-house.
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It’s easy to use, so someone with no code knowledge can easily add or change content.
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You have the option to personalize the experience based on characteristics of your visitor (HubSpot’s Content Optimization System lets you show different content based on lead status and can help you land more customers).
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It needs to be SEO friendly. One advantage of HubSpot is that there’s an SEO checking tool built in out of the box.
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It should allow you to easily add a blog or two.
You can learn more on content management systems over at our blog, where we have a 2-article guide to choosing a CMS.
Reason #2: You don’t know if you’re getting results (or leads)
If you don’t know how many leads you’re getting from your website or other marketing activities, it’s unlikely that the CEO will think the website is a high priority.
As we talk to B2B companies, three situations emerge:
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There are no measurement tools in place, making it impossible to see if a website is generating new business leads.
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There are measures in place, but the measures don’t bring real value to the organization and don’t factor into decisions that are made or marketing budget allocation.
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There are measures in place, but analysis isn’t done on a regular basis.
No wonder so many CEOs at B2B companies think their websites are nothing more than a brochure! Redesigning is the best time to implement more tracking capabilities into your website.
Reason #3: Your brand isn’t visible on search engines
Google your company name. Hopefully, your company website is the #1 result. If it isn’t, you’ve got trouble. But how well-optimized is your website for phrases that don’t have your company name in them?
There are over 10 billion searches on Google each month. That’s at least thousands of opportunities for your company to get found for things people are searching for every day.
Contrary to popular belief, you can’t launch a website and have it show up immediately at the top of search engine rankings. Good rankings result from a sound strategy, good web development, and ongoing optimization over time.
For best results, make sure your online marketing agency pays close attention to content. Here’s how the process should work to make sure your content resonates and is optimized for search engines:
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Develop detailed profiles of your ideal customers (we call these personas).
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Conduct a content audit to map what’s there now, and identify gaps that your ideal customers expect to see.
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Do thorough keyword research so you know what people actually search for.
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Develop a content plan – an outline of the structure of your website and which audiences the pages are intended for, as well as the calls to action you’ll place on each page.
Writing content for your website is incredibly difficult and time consuming unless you have a solid framework. Consider writing copy points and letting your online marketing agency write content for you. You’ll be pleased when your company website gets more relevant visitors from search engines.
Bonus tip: Budget for ongoing marketing
Your company website will never be completely optimized at re-launch. It takes ongoing effort to ensure that your website converts and meets the ever-changing needs of your ideal customers.
Don’t use all your budget on your website redesign. Save some budget for blogging, testing calls to action, landing pages and design performance tweaks to your website.
Spend wisely
If you’re going to invest part of your marketing budget in your company website, you better have a plan. Like anything else, “proper planning prevents poor performance.” What problems are you facing when redesigning your website? Are there other good reasons to redesign?
