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Let’s talk about your old website, the one you had built in 1999. The one you’re privately embarrassed about. The site you include on your business card and in your print advertising materials because everyone else is doing it, even though you’d rather potential customers call your number than actually sit down and click through what’s currently sitting at www.yourcompany.com.

You’ve put off seeking out a redesign of your site for years, thinking you couldn’t justify the cost for what might be a niche advertising arena. Print marketing rules, you say. Sure, the younger set may prefer to learn about your product or service on the Web, but the majority of people will be looking you up in a phone book or reading your ads in the paper. Or so you tell yourself.

But now, with traditional newspaper readership down, and phone books being replaced by newer, jazzier online services, you’re starting to get that nagging feeling that your company needs to catch up. Or rather, pull ahead of the crowd with a really great redesign and a new, 21st-Century marketing strategy. But how? You don’t know the first thing about web design agencies in your area. All you know is you need to find one, because you don’t want your nephew to build this thing, even if it means you can pay him with a Wii. Your nephew’s a cool kid, capable in his own way, but you want professionals.

This being the Elexicon blog, you know what I’m going to say next: use us. We can help. Here’s how.

Content

Perhaps one of the things holding your current site back is content. Like its design, you still have content from 1999. You may have tacked on some newer, more relevant information, but you’ve still got a hodge-podge collection of content with no real direction or form relevant to what your company is in 2010.

We can help with that. We can work with you to determine what you want to say to your customers as they go through your site. It may involve re-working the old content or it may involve working up wholly new content. Either way, we can come up with copy that is appropriate for your new site. And we specialize in methods of organizing this content in ways that fit best practices to optimize returns. We’ll help you convey your message.

And we can be there after your site launches to help with content maintence, which will prevent that content from becoming stale again.

All of this is important because what you say to your customers with your content has a direct impact on their decision to buy your product or use your service. If your content falls short, your site falls short.

Design

Your site was designed in 1999. The Web has made some giant leaps since that time, and unlike much of popular culture, those leaps haven’t led full-circle to retro being in. A 1999 style doesn’t cut it.

Your site’s design is what offers your customers a first impression of your company. If you have great content that masterfully sells your product offerings but your site’s design isn’t attractive, visitors may well miss out on your pitch as they bounce on to another site. The last thing you want is for prospective customers to bounce away to a competitor’s better-looking web site.

That’s all surface level stuff, you might say, We go deeper than that. You know that. I know that. But the customer doesn’t. The old dictum “don’t judge a book by its cover” is definitely not practiced on the Web. People think if your site design isn’t quality, your product or service probably isn’t.

So, here’s where we come in. We can come up with a great design for your site, one that will catch the customer’s eye and pull them in so that they see what you have to offer. We’re really good at this. And if you’re thinking your logo needs a refresh, we can help there too.

This is the most up-front way you can stand out from your competitors on the Web. Play to the fact that people are wowed by a sharp design and then reap the benefits.

Build

The technical side of all of this scares you. You’re not a computer whiz that can work magic with a keyboard. Don’t let that stop you from starting this. We handle all of that. Your site will be built using the latest industry best practices and newest technologies. And we can put it all on a platform you can use yourself, computer whiz or not.

We’ll make it fast and responsive to avoid the other issue that makes people bounce from your site: slow load times. We can provide on-going support for you to keep your site running into the future.

Grow

We also offer services that will help your Web presence grow after launch. A new site isn’t everything. You need to plug in to the current modes of online marketing, which go beyond text ads (but can utilize those, too). We can help you formulate a social media strategy and then help you get started connecting to customers on Facebook, Twitter, or a blog, or whatever’s hot tomorrow. We can also help with more traditional forms of marketing, if you’re looking for guidance in those areas.

Move Forward

It’s time to bring your site out of 1999. We can do that for you. Get in touch today.

» This entry was posted on Thursday, February 25th, 2010 at 6:39 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.