{"id":31180,"date":"2021-04-27T15:49:09","date_gmt":"2021-04-27T15:49:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dvirc.org\/insights\/3-signs-you-need-a-new-website-and-what-to-do-about-it\/"},"modified":"2023-06-07T18:23:16","modified_gmt":"2023-06-07T18:23:16","slug":"3-signs-you-need-a-new-website-and-what-to-do-about-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dvirc.org\/insights\/3-signs-you-need-a-new-website-and-what-to-do-about-it\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Signs You Need a New Website, and What to Do About it"},"content":{"rendered":"
With sales reps stuck at home and the vast majority of trade shows taking place virtually\u2014if at all\u2014small and mid-sized manufacturers are relying more than ever on their online presence to take the place of or augment in-person contact.<\/p>\n
We had a conversation recently with Sagan Medvec, DVIRC strategic partner and co-founder of Brand Llama, about signs your website is in need of an overhaul or refresh, just what a new \u00a0or updated website can mean for your business, and what to expect from the process of building a new or increased web presence.<\/p>\n
Sagan points to three main indications that your website isn\u2019t performing at the level it should:<\/p>\n
What can you gain from updating your website? <\/strong><\/p>\n An investment in a new or refreshed website yields a number of benefits; most simply put, you should see a reversal of the issues listed above: prospects will find you more easily in search results, mobile optimization will drive engagement, and clear value messaging will result in more applicable hits. All of this leads to increased awareness, interest, and ultimately leads.<\/p>\n \u201cShort term, you can expect an increase in visits to your website,\u201d Sagan says. \u201cAlong with that, expect an expansion of potential business coming in through the website.\u201d<\/p>\n He says it\u2019s even possible to have the latter without the former; this can be an indication that the website was being found for the wrong reasons in the past, and now it is receiving more targeted hits.<\/p>\n One way to improve the quality of leads you receive from your website is through more targeted language and value descriptions. The clearer and more accurately your site copy describes who you are and what you offer your customers, the more likely you are to engage prospects who need your products or services. If completed contact forms or calls coming from your website have been \u201cnuisance hits\u201d\u2014prospects and requests that are unrelated to your core business\u2014this more tailored language should help reverse that trend.<\/p>\n Moreover, updating content to accurately reflect your value proposition and offerings will enable the site to act as a 24\/7 salesperson\u2014always on, and always available to accurately answer questions and provide a contact portal with your company.<\/p>\n How does the process work?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cThe process starts with a kickoff to determine the issues you\u2019re having so we can fix them,\u201d \u00a0Sagan says. \u201cThen we discuss content: what information needs to be on the site, and what needs to be updated.\u201d<\/p>\n He adds that if you have a site with sufficient content, one of the first steps will be confirming its accuracy and timeliness. If it\u2019s in good shape, the team will repurpose as much of that copy as much possible.<\/p>\n New site design happens over a few weeks with DVIRC and the Brand Llama team presenting several different website designs and pages. Typically this includes the homepage and one or two other facets of the site, such as \u201cabout us\u201d, \u201ccontact,\u201d or \u201ccapabilities\/services,\u201d \u00a0although the exact needs and their layout will be tailored to fit your business.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom there we take feedback from the client, sometimes mixing and matching ideas among the options, to get them where they want to be,\u201d says Sagan.<\/p>\n With every revision, he says, the team adds a few more pages to give a more comprehensive idea of the site layout, as well as its look and feel. When the design and structure are approved, the Brand Llama team will begin to code them.<\/p>\n Once built, with the approved pages coded, the functionality confirmed, and enhanced site elements that will give you higher search results (commonly known as Search Engine Optimization, or SEO), the site goes live on a private \u201cstaging\u201d server, so the client can see the almost-final product before it goes live.<\/p>\n What do we need from you?<\/strong><\/p>\n Sagan says the client\u2019s main involvement revolves around providing feedback on content and design.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s the biggest issue we have,\u201d he says. \u201cWe need to make sure the content is accurate. If we\u2019re using copy from an existing site, that doesn\u2019t usually take long. If not, or if everything is inaccurate and needs to be rewritten, that can take a few weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n As for feedback on design, this is generally a matter of making time to review the proposed options and working with the designer to determine what should change or be combined to streamline the site\u2019s presentation.<\/p>\n \u201cThat usually doesn\u2019t take more than a few hours,\u201d Sagan says. \u201cAnd the changes happen quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n After the launch, your team will take part in a 1-2 hour training session to gain an understanding of how to add or update content or conduct light maintenance. The extent of this is up to the client, with their own abilities and bandwidth to determine \u00a0how much they decide to take on.<\/p>\n \u201cWe make sure they have the tools and understanding they need to do what they feel comfortable with,\u201d Sagan says.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not as though the site is cast in stone the day it goes live, either.\u00a0 DVIRC and Brand Llama offer a 28-day update\/revision period, in which maintenance and most changes will be handled as part of the initial project scope.<\/p>\n After that, it\u2019s a matter of keeping the content updated and looking for that uptick in lead flow!<\/p>\n If you think your website may be underperforming as a lead generation tool, or you would like to learn more about DVIRC\u2019s website design and development offerings, click here<\/a> to contact us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With sales reps stuck at home and the vast majority of trade shows taking place virtually\u2014if at all\u2014small and mid-sized manufacturers are relying more than ever on their online presence to take the place of or augment in-person contact. We had a conversation recently with Sagan Medvec, DVIRC strategic partner and co-founder of Brand Llama, […]","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":31181,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[86],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n