“You never get a second chance to make a first impression”
Some credit Oscar Wilde with this quote. Others point to Will Rodgers. No matter who said it first, this is as true today as it ever was. I would say it is even more important. Why? Because in the days of Messrs. Wilde and Rodgers, most first impressions were face to face. Today most first impressions happen via your website. And if the impression is bad, visitors are gone in a flash.
For example: I was visiting with a potential new client last week. They told me they had met a potential new client who had told them they checked out their website before coming in. They cringed at the thought. Their website wasn’t horrible by any means. But it was so out of date. They had information from 2010 on there listed as news. Fortunately their business is based more on referrals, and their skill sets. So the new client still came in. The problem is that there is no telling how many people didn’t call or come in as they were turned off by their website.
Though in this case, they probably didn’t lose a new client, it got them thinking. So they brought me in to take a look at their site. With a couple hours work each month over the next quarter we will get them up to date and also secure their website from potential attacks. You’ve heard me talk about all the virtues of WordPress. But there are downsides as well. One of those is potential hacker attacks. You need to keep your WordPress version up to date as well as all your plug-ins. Then you need to have a good security plug-in.
Bottom Line: Every website we review doesn’t need to be blown up and redone. You don’t always have to spend thousands of dollars. With one of our support plans we can incrementally improve your website to get it up to snuff. From that point we will help you keep your site up to date 24/7/365.
“If you want a thing done well, do it yourself.” ~Napolean Bonaparte
In many cases I would have to agree with the little guy. But he died centuries before WordPress and other Content Management Systems came to be.
So a few questions:
Do you feel comfortable making the changes to your WordPress and plugins?
Have you made changes to your theme? If you update the theme files, will your customizations be wiped out? (this happens when there is no child theme)
Do you have a backup plugin in place in case one of the updates cripples your site? (it happens)
Setting Up a WordPress Website
Although the thousands of available themes look nice and fit the requirements of many businesses, they are not all easy to set up. The more available features, the longer it takes to get up and running.
Conclusion
Don’t get me wrong, WordPress is fabulous, you certainly can blog yourself, edit content, add photos and more with little or no help. But unless you have the time and the skillset needed to keep your WordPress site up to date, hire a professional to help you to set up and manage your website.
