This is such a tricky question to answer as it is very ‘chicken and egg’. It’s important for companies to have a website to act as a virtual shop front for their business. For example to enable potential clients to easily find the answers to the questions they have about products and services.
Types of website
However, spending a lot of money on a fancy website, with all the bells and whistles, could be a complete waste of money. Ask yourself, what you need the website to do and what other marketing is happening around the website.
Start with understanding the role of your website within your customer journey. Websites can be broadly categorised as:
- A ‘brochure’ site – where the purpose of the site offers proof and reassurance to potential buyers.
- An ‘e-commerce’ site – where customers purchase or book directly.
- A ‘full management system – with a comprehensive database and set of tools behind the website interface, critical for the organisation supply chain to function.
Once you’ve determined which type of website will best serve your customers and your organisation, you will still need to make sure that it works.
If your current website is not working
Your business may already have the correct type of website, but you feel that it is not ‘working’ and therefore you are contemplating investing in a rebuild.
Before making this investment, you should identify in what way your website is not working.
- No direct hits from search engines – instead of automatically thinking you need a rebuild, perhaps you could simply ensure your web content contains SEO keywords, and that you update it regularly with new content like blogs and testimonials.
- Visitors only come via social media links – this could demonstrate that your social media marketing is actually working as it is leading people to your website, rather than assuming your website isn’t working because visitors are not direct.
- Visitors don’t spend long on the website – this could mean your website is not easy to navigate, or visitors’ questions are not being answered. On average visitors take 0.05 seconds to make a judgement about your website and 38% will leave if it is unattractive or difficult to navigate.[1] You could revamp your website by ensuring it is accessible to mobile and desktops users, adding an FAQ page, and if there is already enough traffic you could consider a chat box to answer questions.
Is it your website or the marketing around your website?
For many businesses who feel their website isn’t working for them, the problem isn’t the website itself but rather the marketing surrounding the business. If no one knows who you are, unless you have spent a lot of money on Google Ads you are unlikely to rank on page one of a general internet search.
Therefore, it is important that you carry out strategic marketing to raise your brand image and get your name known. Then potential customers will actively search for your website before deciding whether to work with you.
If you are getting high bounce rates, it might be website functionality that is the issue. Are there clear ‘call to action’ buttons, is it easy to navigate and is it easily accessible on mobile devices and the browsers your clients use?
In Summary
So, before splashing out on a fancy website ask yourself, is it worth it, now? Are there some tweaks you can do to the existing site first? Are there other areas of marketing to consider first? ? How well do you understand your customers’ journey? Do enough people know who you are that your website will get the traffic to justify the spend If not, invest in marketing to raise your profile before a new website.
If you would like some advice on marketing or your website please do contact info@priddeymarketing.co.uk for independent advice.