Are you planning a new website or maybe a renovation of your existing one?

Awesome. The best metaphor I’ve come up with is to treat your website like a home.

The first question to ask, is it a fixer-upper or do you need something new? If your current site is a WordPress site then it’s more than likely you can call in the digital equivalent to Mike Holmes to get it updated rather than calling the demolition experts and start from scratch.

But if you are going for the complete new site then you really need to think about the process as if you are building a custom home. Specifically you need to think  about:

  • Architecture
  • Design
  • Plumbing

Your site is the home for your business

If you own a car or a home, you may have tooled around with some very basic maintenance tasks – like changing an oil filter or replacing that little chain connecting the toilet handle to the stopper thing at the bottom the tank.

If you’re patient, enjoy what you’re doing, and have the time to learn to do it right – you can figure out a lot of the basic tasks.

But there is a reason those who work in trades are paid well. They have a deeper understanding of how things work and why they need to be done in certain ways.

Beneath the hood of your car, and behind the walls of your house there are hundreds of connections that have to work if the wheels are going to turn and and the water is going to flow.

Mechanics and plumbers understand these connections.

So how does this relate to your website?

Well if you have a great looking site, it doesn’t mean anything if the functionality to help you convert isn’t there. And if your site isn’t properly connected to social media sites like Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter etc. then your content won’t be flowing efficiently out into the world. In essence if you don’t take into account the architecture, design and plumbing – your site won’t be optimized for success.

So here are the questions everyone needs to ask when looking for a marketing agency to revamp a website:

How is the site going to be built?

Can it “grow” with your business? If you are on a custom design – you won’t have the ability to add in new plugins or extend the functionality as easy as your competitor using WordPress. Are you going to become a victim of “vendor lock”? Is the only person who understands the architecture and coding the person who build it or can you find someone else quickly if they get flakey or get hit by a bus? I can’t say it enough – just use Worpress.

Is it designed for conversion?

A great looking website is fantastic. But don’t mistake looking nice with working well. Make sure that when your site is built, it’s with your customer in mind. Every element is for them  – not you. Give the customers what they need and they will come back. Make sure that you have calls to action EVERYWHERE. Remember , anything that doesn’t push somebody to engage more fully is an obstacle to your success. Eliminate those obstacles in the design.

Are your pipes properly connected?

One of the great things about marketing automation is how well we can integrate content with social media. Creating content that only lives on your website is a wasted opportunity.  It’s never been easier to automatically share your content with LinkedIn, Twitter and FB. I’ve written about automatically recycling your old posts and evergreen webinars. These are the pipes that channel your genius to potential clients on a consistent basis.

Your website is the the “home” of your business. Take care of it. Don’t fall behind in maintenance and be ready to have those dream renos ready to go when you need to expand.