As a service-based business, you have to spend time explaining both what you do and how you do it better than everyone else in the area. One of your biggest assets for this is your website—but it can also be your biggest weakness. Websites age poorly, especially for businesses that grow and change. Here are four ways to tell if you need a new website as a service-based business and how you can get started.
1. Your Website is Showcasing Your Old Brand
Businesses change all the time: they expand their services, rebrand, change leadership, and more. Often, those changes aren’t translated to your website. You might have pages that refer to the old branding, point to pages and URLs that you’ve trimmed away, or major changes in design from page to page. This is one of the most common rebranding mistakes, and it won’t just confuse your customers; it’ll make them click away.
2. Your Website is Difficult to Navigate
There are many reasons you might want to add a page to your website: you want to add services, you want to create something specifically for SEO (Search Engine Optimization), or you want to create something specifically for paid advertising. But as you add more content to your site and link it to your menu, you’re making it harder for users to find what they need. Instead of broken headers and footers and nested menus, it’s time for:
- Business Blogs: Blogs can be a great way to provide more information and SEO without bloating your website’s navigation. For service-based businesses, blogs are among the best ways to demonstrate expertise.
- Advertising Landing Pages: Landing pages can be potent tools for ads, especially Google Ads. But landing pages don’t need to be in your menus. Knowing when to create specific pages and when to overhaul existing pages is key to a clean website.
Note that long page load times and other UX or “User Experience” issues can also have a negative impact. Learn more about it in our blog, Why UX is Now a Part of SEO and What That Means for Your Website.
3. Your Service Pages Are Too Dense
Unless you’re in a very niche industry, chances are the vast majority of your traffic is going to come via people on their phones. This was true 8 years ago when I wrote this article, and the margins of PC and tablet users have only gotten slimmer. Of course, your page should be optimized for mobile, but it shouldn’t be a thousand scrolls on a phone. Keeping your content tight, use the right CTAs, and remember: you can always tell the customer more after the sales process starts (or in a blog or FAQ section, which is also great for AI bots).
4. You’re Changing How You Sell
It’s also important to keep your marketing strategy in line with your business strategy. If you’re changing how you sell, launching a rebrand, selling the company, or making other major changes, your website needs to reflect that. As you work on the business side, it’s time to start your marketing consultation to get ahead of all these changes, so both you and your customers aren’t caught flat-footed when these changes hit the market.
At Vision, we’ve made a name for ourselves by combining website design and development with marketing strategy and execution, not only rebuilding websites to better fit your business’s current needs, but leveling up your marketing alongside it. Contact us today to get started with marketing consultation, website development, and marketing services.
