When was the last time you gave your website a complete makeover? When did you add fresh content? If your answer is “ages ago,” then chances are your website is getting stale and is in need of new material, as well as a polished look. However, before you start moving things around again, here are a few things to consider every time you’re uncertain as to where to start from when giving your site back its lost spark.
Become One of Your Customers
One of the biggest mistakes business owners make is forgetting about their customers. Getting caught up in your business may bring momentary results, but this is not the attitude that will get you where you wish to go in the end. For this reason, it’s crucial that you step into your customer’s shoes. Imagine you were your customer and you were visiting your website, but seeing the exact same things you saw last time you clicked on the link. If the last time you visited was the day before, then it’s understandable; but if the last time you had a look was last month, or a few months ago, then you will automatically assume that this is a half-dead website, move on, and probably never come back.
The most successful online businesses are enjoying the traffic they do because they keep things flowing; new information coming in daily and a fresh look, always pleasant to the eye. Selling high-quality products or offering great services is only the beginning. Getting your audience to like and want to visit your site comes next. But having them wanting more and coming back to explore further is what ultimately makes the difference. If you don’t catch their attention every time they come calling, they will go someplace else: your competitor.
Search Engines Love Fresh Content
If major search engines have started forgetting all about you, then your website is getting stale and it’s time to do something about it. Google, alongside most other search engines, pride themselves on not delivering old, unused results. Broken links, stale information, and irrelevant or low-quality content is out; fresh, helpful material is in and ranked highly. When users approach Google with an inquiry, they should be able to trust that the most relevant and recent content, from websites that are kept up-do-date and buzzing, will be presented. If they weren’t getting the best results, they wouldn’t be coming back.
With this in mind, the more you leave your website without fresh content that is shareable and relevant, the more you slide down the search engines’ lists of results and in the end, you might even disappear. Who will take your place then? Your competitor.
Keep It Engaging
Always remember that a sure way to attract customers, create a buzz and stay relevant and fresh even when nothing new is really happening, is to make your website engaging.
- Make it a place where your customers come to converse with one another and you
- Create forums
- Allow your visitors to create their own profiles
- Feature your latest products and encourage conversations about them under your latest post; present the newest members of your team
- Host contests and offer discounts, coupons and giveaways
Your customers could create the buzz for you if you only let them.
Opt for Simple Design
As far as layout goes, always keep it simple. The simpler, cleaner and easier-to-navigate your layout is, the more difficult it is for your website to go stale. Too much style impresses but quickly tires; opt for classic grids and proportionate content, a simple design with enough empty space for the eye to breathe. If your visitors have gotten bored of your old look, it’s probably because it was too much, to begin with. Simple lines, reasonable mixing and matching, clean patterns and textures, a flat design and a killer logo is all you need, as far as design goes, to keep your customers checking in.
So remember this when you give your website its latest makeover. Not only will it help you attract more traffic now, but it will also make it a lot harder, if not impossible, for your website to go stale in the future.