Has it been a while since you last updated your website? Turning your website from a liability to an asset doesn’t have to cost a fortune. Starting with strong basics and clear goals can help you stand out in a crowded field and be future-ready.
Start with the basics
If it’s a new website you’re after, first spend some time reflecting on your business and brand. Ask yourself who you are, what makes you unique and what you want to achieve with your new website. Once you have a better idea of the answers to these questions, you’ll be able to clearly reflect this in your new website.
Struggling with an existing website that’s not performing as well as you’d like? It’s important to take a look at the good, the bad and the ugly of your current digital presence. Take five to assess:
- what do you like/dislike about your current website?
- who you are as a business and how you would like to be seen?
- who is your target audience?
- what sort of action are you asking your users to take on your website (e.g. call, make an enquiry, etc.)?
It’s also a time good to seek feedback on your current website from your clients and customers, along with friends and family. Asking for honest feedback on usability from multiple sources can be invaluable for the future health of your website and brand.
Look at your competitors
One of the most cost-effective ways to update your website on a budget is to look at what your competitors are doing. It’s free, easy and a great way to pinpoint what they are doing well, or not so well. It’s also a great way to investigate any opportunities you could jump on.
Pick a few competitors, check out their website and take notes as you go. These notes will also be mighty useful for any web developers or content writers you may work with. A great way to do this is by conducting a SWOT analysis. This can helps determine the strengths, weaknesses and threats of your competitors, and opportunities for you.
Use free online tools to measure performance
There’s an array of free online tools out there to help you assess how your website or your competitors’ websites are performing. HubSpot’s Website Grader or Neil Patel’s SEO Analyser are both excellent tools to add to your performance measurement belt. Using your website’s URL (domain name), it will crawl your website and generate its SEO grade. The SEO grade is the search engine optimisation score that essentially measures the strength of your website on search engines, like Google and Bing.
Both tools will provide you with a detailed report with suggestions to improve your SEO rating. Implementing these recommendations can help you rank better in search engines, increasing the likelihood of your brand being seen by more potential leads. For example, it may flag that your web pages have a low word count (a big no-no for SEO), or that you haven’t included enough relevant keywords in your headings.
Create clear objectives
Now that you’ve checked out your competitors and thoroughly analysed your own business, you can move onto the next step. You’re ready to establish clear objectives for what you want to achieve with your new website. SMART objective settings are a useful tool for such an activity. Objectives should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound.
By taking the time to determine exactly what it is you need, you can begin to lay out what you can do in-house, and what falls outside your area of expertise. This considered approach will also help you avoid any common redevelopment traps, such as going over budget by paying for unnecessary services.
Improve your content
Time is precious. Your potential customers will form their first impression of your business within milliseconds. If you haven’t captured your audience’s attention within 15 seconds of them landing on your website, you will have lost them.
Good website content should immediately convey who you are, what you do, and why your customers should pick your services. Professional content writers know what questions to ask and how to best represent your brand. Great content will not only drive more traffic to your website, it will also keep them engaged. Plus, investing in a good copywriter can actually save you big bucks in the long-term.
Small budget, maximum impact
High impact web copy on a budget – sound too good to be true? It doesn’t have to be. Our team of professional small business copywriters are based in Melbourne and have helped all kinds of businesses achieve their goals. Thanks to our lean and streamlined services, we keep things quick, affordable and straightforward.
Our range of affordable copywriting packages have something to suit every budget. Whether it’s a quick homepage revamp or a complete website transformation, we’ll deliver professional web content to up your online game. Ready to get started? Get in touch with us today!