Is a New Website Really Worth the Investment?

It’s a new year and that means a chance for a fresh start. While some of us are busy making personal resolutions, others are diligently planning for the business year ahead. This means pulling together our 2017 marketing plan and hopefully giving serious thought to a new website.

One of the best ways to secure a successful year and make sure you’re reaching your target market is with a new website. This idea is often met with hesitation due to time and budget constraints, but don’t let that keep you from trying; there’s immeasurable value at stake.

When it comes to investing, people tend to know the cost of things, but the value of nothing. To put it simply,

Value = benefits-costs

There are many ways a business stands to benefit from a new website. Sure, it takes time and money, but the return on your investment is virtually unlimited.


Brand Focused User Experience Design

First things first, your new website design has to be about more than pretty colors and flashing graphics. It is an extension of your brand and should make people feel about it. A good design will do all of the following:

• Increase the value of your site
• Generate leads
• Make a sale
• Gain referrals
• Create loyalty

As long as your design is up to current visibility and accessibility standards, which includes being viewable on mobile devices, you’ll find that you’re reaching the widest audience. And the numbers will reflect the same.

Search Engine Optimization

Because a shiny new website won’t work well if nobody can find it, you need SEO, or search engine optimization. SEO works by using certain keywords throughout the web pages, content, meta data, HTML structure and even your domain name, to make it show up in search engine results.

Your content, or what’s on your website, is a value gold mine. Everything you post (blogs, GIFs, infographics, videos, etc.) works together to reach out and touch your audience, encourage their engagement, and ultimately convert them to a lead. The more people you reach, the more traffic your site gets, and the more potential sales your company gets.

Social Media

Having a presence on social media networks is one of the best ways to engage with your audience. It encourages followers to interact through comments, likes and shares. The beauty of social media is it also works to expand your reach and, ultimately, drive more traffic to your website. For example, a single post can potentially reach viewers across the world within minutes, putting your company in front of people that have likely never heard of it before. The kicker, it’s free (basically).

Social accounts are free to set up, but many businesses are now finding it beneficial and necessary to either have a position dedicated to social media or to have help from an outside source. It’s crucial to have a plan for what’s being posted when, and whether or not your efforts are working. Programs like Social Inbox and Hootsuite make this super easy.

Analytics

Knowing yours and your competitor’s will give you an advantage.

In this day and age, nearly everything is trackable. And thanks to programs like Google analytics, it’s never been easier to see what’s working on your website…and what isn’t.

Look for things like:

• Bounce rate
• Time spent on site
• Crawl rate
• Number of inbound links

Being armed with this information for your company and your competitors will tell you exactly how your website and marketing efforts are performing. It will also show you where you need to make adjustments.

Need help? Signify Studio is here!

A new website is one of the best ways to grow your business and, when designed correctly, it’s an invaluable asset for any company. If you’re looking for a fresh start and need professional help, contact us for a FREE 15-minute website design consultation. We’re your go-to source for everything from graphic design, web design, digital marketing, branding, social media and web hosting. We’ll help you get the most value out of one of the most important investments you’ll make for your company.