The other day I was on a call with a potential client and he asked me how long I had been in the business. I told him I had built my first site in 1996, the early days of the internet. I got to thinking how time flies and how much things have change in such a short time.
For Instance:
Remember when you had to build sites to look good in 800 x 600 as that was the most popular resolution? Wow has that changed for the better.
Remember when all your clients wanted flash on their sites? Then along came the iPad and changed the world. Thank you Mr. Jobs.
Remember when your choices of fonts was limited to but a few choices?
Remember when AOL was on top of the world? Now a mere shadow of itself.
Remember when dial-up was your only choice? Now modem sounds are history.
Remember when you could only use very small images due to download times?
Remember when Yahoo was the search engine of choice? Now Google not only owns the search market, it has also become a verb.
Remember when you had to build a separate mobile site? Then along came responsive design.
Change is a constant, especially when dealing with technology. As Winston Churchill said, “To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.”
I couldn’t agree more, and can’t imagine what changes we will see in the next 17 years!
Okay so I am watching a used car commercial last night. They are talking about how they have all the latest and greatest cars. But in the background there was over a foot of snow. Obviously what happened was that they are just reusing the old commercial. But they don’t realize how bad it looks to the public. People already are mistrusting of car dealers, having an ad like this only reinforces the negativity. You know none of the cars he is showing in the ad are still there. (unless they are real lemons)
So you’re wondering what does this have to do with websites? Well, if you take a look at someone’s webpage especially the homepage there’s an outdated picture or content, you are not as likely to proceed to view what they offer. If you are a brick and mortar store, this is similar to you having member’s only jackets in the window, or perhaps a pet rock display.
Look, if you don’t care, it shows. You need to keep your site up to date. At very least keep your homepage fresh. Try to change your photos each quarter, or at least rotate in some new photos. And be sure any offers or call to actions are still relevant. Can you think of a worse customer experience than to have someone click on an offer that is no longer valid?
In Conclusion: Think of your website the same as you would your storefront or office. Keeping current is not hard and leaves people with a positive impression. You would never have old merchandise laying around your store, so don’t have old content on your website. If you don’t have a way to update your website, or can’t find the company who manages your site, contact us, we are glad to help.
