Think of your website as the digital storefront to your business. Like a physical storefront, your digital storefront is the face of your business. It’s the first thing your potential customers see when they are introduced to your business. And because of that, it’s important to present your business in a pleasing, friendly manner. If your website is treated as an afterthought, you risk hurting the credibility of your business. Let’s explore how to determine whether your website is the best digital storefront it can be.

Stale Bread

Be honest: when was the last time your website was updated? In fairness, the main content of your website probably does not need to be updated often. Your business name stays the same, information about your business stays the same, your address and phone number stay the same. But without providing fresh new content on your website, it’s not easy to attract new customers. So what do you do?

This is why blogs are great. Your business can provide a wealth of knowledge to your customers through blog posts. If you post a new blog post to your social media followers, they can like and share the post with their friends, enticing new customers to your website. But if you have stale content, it’s like having a poorly maintained and uninviting storefront. You can help the credibility of your website by regularly posting fresh new content to your followers.

Cookie-Cutter

Your business is one-of-a-kind. Your logo, your promotional materials, your physical storefront – they were all custom designed just for you. Why would your website – your digital storefront – be any different?

With the surge of new pre-designed drag-and-drop website building services, your customers can tell when your website is not built by professionals. The spacing is off, there are inconsistent colors and fonts, and the content itself can feel “boxed-in”. 

People in the web design industry call these websites “cookie-cutter”, because of how generic and unoriginal they often appear. This affects the credibility of your business because it can seem as though no effort was put into the presentation. However, professional web designers and developers create bespoke solutions to suit the needs of each client individually. This leads to a more positive, engaging user experience.

The Last Doughnut in the Box

The Internet has come a long way in recent years. Think of all of the apps, websites, and web services that are integral to your daily life. How long have those existed?

We already discussed how having fresh content on your website helps drive traffic to it. But it’s also important to have a fresh design. Compared to just 10 years ago, there’s much more variety in the types of devices that are being used to view your website. To maintain a reputable status, make sure that your website adapts to all screen sizes. This includes small screens like smartphones and tablets, medium screens like laptops, and large screens like desktop monitors and televisions.

Your website also runs a variety of software, which needs to be updated regularly. Often, these updates will come with new features to benefit both you and your site’s visitors. But updates can also address software bugs that require fixing and security vulnerabilities that require patching. If these software updates are neglected for too long, it could lead to a poor user experience for your site’s visitors. In a worst-case scenario, website neglect could even compromise your website as bots attempt to brute-force their way in.

Serve Up Freshly Baked Credibility

We know it’s not easy to ensure a website is always up-to-date. Between writing new blog posts, having a modern website, and keeping it modern, that’s a lot of work. We know you’re busy running your business, but we can help! To learn how we can spruce up your existing website, or to build you a brand new website, schedule a 9-minute call with us today!