There are so many reasons for people to update their websites now, that it’s urgent in many cases.
Right now there are many websites that don’t work at all or don’t work well on mobile devices and 55% of all web viewers are now surfing the web using some kind of mobile device (by mobile device I mean an iPhone, iPad, Android phone, Windows phone, etc.)
When someone is first looking for a new provider FOR ANY product or service, it’s very likely that they are skimming the web using a mobile device. Sometimes it’s hard for me to imagine that but i’m in my 50’s and I think the older i get the less likely I am to try some new technological trend (but numbers don’t lie). Try looking at your website on an iPhone or android phone and I’m guessing you’ll see a site that’s very small, with tiny buttons that make it next to impossible to view and navigate through your website. Even on an iPad (which is larger than an iPhone) – websites are very often not OK for several reasons:
- First they were most often not designed for use on a mobile device, meaning that the buttons are very small and navigating the site is really difficult (sites made for the mobile environment have big buttons that make going from page to page very easy).
- Even websites that were reprogrammed in the last year also frequently have elements that just don’t work on the mobile environment such as FLASH headers. FLASH is a very popular Adobe program (if you don’t know) that shows MOVING content on the Internet. FLASH elements don’t work on ANY Apple based product (without jumping through some hoops & downloading separate software that makes this possible). If a company has a FLASH website or a FLASH header, the site or the header is completely gone when viewed in an Apple based device.
Note: It’s a good idea to eventually go and look at EVERY one of your competitors’ websites on your PC, your laptop, your large screen TV (if you have one!) or on an iPhone and an Android phone at the very least…..it would be nice to know how your site works sitting next to the other vendors your client is considering buying from!
So, why should you have your website redone (or reprogrammed)? And should you get a “WordPress” website instead of an HTML site? (HTML has been the most common language used to create websites and in the past, it was most frequently used when someone wanted a 100% custom website).
We are seeing many problems on other people’s websites made by many different web development companies that were created recently (even in the last year). Your site may not be working properly somewhere or everywhere (on mobile phones nor on PCs) and should be updated or at least checked due to the following issues:
- Rapidly Increasing use of Mobile Phones means sites don’t work correctly on mobile devices – “More than half of American adult cell phone users—55 percent—now use their phones to go online.” (up from 31% just 4 years ago). And sites that weren’t designed to be shown on a mobile phone just don’t look good or work correctly in these smaller screens.
- Rapidly changing BROWSERS cause functionality issues – This is critical too….just last year Internet Explorer was the #1 web browser. Most sites were created with that in mind, but now Google Chrome is #1 and there are many other browsers/players (Firefox, Chrome, Safari, etc.) and that means there are sites that DO NOT work correctly on Chrome that looked fine on IE just a few months ago.
- Changing Browser VERSIONS cause functionality issues – In the last year updated versions of all the major web browsers (Internet Explorer, Fox, Chrome, etc.) have been released meaning that there are elements on most websites that don’t work or don’t look right on one browser or another or on all browsers,
- Monitors keep getting bigger and bigger – Most new TV’s are very big (55+”) and they’re wireless or web ready meaning that people are able to surf the web using their TVs. Most sites that were created for standard sized web monitors are going to look really small (too small) in these environments. ONLY A RESPONSIVE SITE CAN FIX THIS: A responsive site is one that expands and contracts to fit the full size of a monitor no matter how big or small it is.
So why should you have a WordPress website, instead of just redoing your site in the programming language that’s been used up until now (HTML)?
HTML is the old standard and the newest version of HTML is great and will always be around. But there are so many reasons to have a WordPress site. It’s a rapidly growing programming language (with currently 72 MILLION sties use WordPress) that will give you the following benefits:
- You will be able to edit your own website’s content – once we have the site up and running you could (if you want to) go in and make text & image changes (you won’t have to pay us/someone to change every comma or letter you want to change. You can also keep your website up-to-date by doing it a little at a time. Updating your site will no longer be a gargantuan, undo-able project. Of course we will always be here to do more complex web changes and even if you want us to make simple changes (like basic text changes or photo “swaps”) you will be able to get those things done much faster and for less money.
- You can have a responsive site – we can either program a responsive site or use a ‘responsive’ theme meaning that your site will re-size automatically to fill the entire screen no matter how big or small monitors get.
- You can have a mobile-ready site –This is important. We can either program & create a mobile site for you from scratch, or we can use a design “theme” that’s already responsive or you can acquire & install a plug-in that will convert your new WordPress site from being non-mobile ready to being mobile-ready (you’ll need a WordPress site to be able to do this).
- You can keep your site current – when you can get into your website and make changes that will mean you won’t have to pay a programmer every time they want to make one little change. AND this is important because it keeps your site current and makes it easier to add new material on an ongoing basis – which is CRITICAL TO KEEPING YOUR SITE LISTED HIGH ON THE SEARCH ENGINES. Not to mention I know how frustrating it is not to be able to just remove an employee name or change a product offering without having to hire a programmer. All this will equate to a better working website that more people see and more people respond to.
- You can add features & functions that were previously out of reach – One of the coolest things about WordPress is this; with a WordPress site you’ll be able to affordably add features and functionality to your websites that were previously out of reach. Features such as e-commerce, restricted access sites (requiring user names & passwords), online appointment setting features, webinar/event schedules/ticket sales, pop-ups, live chat rooms, send and track newsletters and many other functions that used to costs tens of thousands of dollars (and more) to program by hand are now a realistic option for you! Now these functions can be added often for FREE (or for a very low-cost by getting what’s called a plug-in – many of which are free). All you’d have to pay for is the cost of having our programmer set up the plug-in (which can range from $100 to $1000+ depending on the complexity of the plug-in) vs. the 10’s of thousands of dollars that it used to cost to add these features. This is because WordPress is an “Open Source” programming language meaning that people are out there programming modules or “plug ins” that will add functionality and most of the time they do this for FREE.
Here’s one more tid bit that will be good for you to know: you can have a WordPress site custom designed & programmed by hiring one of our PHP programmers (PHP is the “native language” that’s used to create WordPress websites). Alternatively you can select a design theme or template and have one of our programmers set the site up (which is much less expensive). Either way you’ll be opening up a whole new world for your website – taking it from being an old lifeless “brochure” to a current, vibrant and interactive website that’s attracting customers, gathering leads and moving up the search engine rankings at the same time.
Feel free to call me any time if you’d like to go over any of these materials I am more than happy to advise you and look forward to talking with you. Here are a few WordPress sites we’ve done recently:
Sample sites:
http://ybs.us/test/ (still in progress)
http://hearingnowusa.com/ (sometimes we don’t always agree with the photos our clients ask us to use but we aim to please!)
https://mdept.com (this is my new WordPress site – I’m still working on it – you know the story of the cobbler’s son not having any shoes!)
http://acrackinthedoor.com/ (this is my personal blog)…..
http://theadvertisingblog.biz (this very blog) and
http://thesalesblog.net (a sales related marketing & advertising blog)
