If your website hasn’t been updated for a long time, visitors could be put off engaging or getting in touch.
Some people might even legitimately wonder if your business is still trading.
So what can you do to keep your website looking fresh, relevant and up-to-date, so it’s instantly clear to visitors that you’re open for business and eager to assist?
You don’t always need to completely redesign or create a brand new website to make it better at driving and converting leads. You might simply need to refine what’s already there.
For example, does the copy on your website reflect the latest keywords trends and data, and is it optimised accordingly so it’s getting picked up by search engines?
Does every web page and landing page have up-to-date information that reflects your current brand offering and target audience?
And, crucially, do you understand the difference between these two types of page?
A landing page should be designed specifically to encourage sign-ups or gather information, while web pages take visitors on a journey throughout your website, so they can learn more about you and what you offer.
Small, simple edits to existing pages could make a big difference to their effectiveness and reach, so carry out an audit of your site to see where these changes and improvements could be made and which ones should be your main priorities.
Learn more: Top tips to create a lead generating website
Regularly adding blog content is a great way to show visitors to your site that you’re up-to-date, engaged with the wider industry and in touch with the needs of your clients.
You can publish a mixture of reactive content, with your views and insights on recent developments, and evergreen articles that address the questions that clients want answering and problems that need solving.
If visitors can see recently published blog posts with the date clearly marked, they’ll be in no doubt that you’re open for business, that you understand their challenges, and that you’re potentially able to help them.
Learn more: What content should I publish on my website?
Meta descriptions are brief summaries of a page’s content that appear on search engine results pages.
You can use these to reach out to people searching online and emphasise that your page contains the information they are looking for.
It’s therefore well worth taking the time to make sure the meta descriptions for each page on your site are accurate, compelling and persuasive, so anyone who sees your name appear on a search engine feels confident clicking on the link.
Learn more: Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) Checklist
Website analytics can throw up some interesting findings, in particular the bounce rate - the percentage of people who view a page on your website and leave without clicking elsewhere or viewing any other pages.
If you have an especially high bounce rate on certain pages, that could be a cue to think about changing the copy and layout.
Is the page easy to navigate? Is it visually appealing? Does the copy need to be simplified?
Could you keep people on your site with more links to other pages and more prominent CTAs?
Put yourself in the position of somebody who has landed on your website for the first time and ask yourself these questions, as just a few small changes could encourage people to stay on your site and hopefully get in touch.
Learn more: Growth Series Live On-Demand: Website Masterclass
Learn more: Website basics to consider
Learn more: Website Briefing Document