5 Tips to Getting Your Website in Shape for the New Year

Ifyou’re a small business, then by now you should know the importance of having awebsite. Nowadays, when a potential client hears of your business, the firstthing they are going to do when they get home, or when they pick up theirphone, is to look up your company on the web. If you don’t show up intheir searches, you are going to lose a huge amount of credibility and probablylose the sale. But it doesn’t stop there. If your site isn’t professionallooking, if it doesn’t reflect your brand and company image, and if it doesn’thave anything for the visitor to do, you might as well forget about the sale. It used to be thathaving a website was enough to prove that you are a reputable company, but withthe competition on the web as fierce as it is, your website needs to be morethan that now. It needs to function as a  multi-level marketing tool  for your business. With 2009 coming to aclose, now is a great time to take a step back and look at your website to seeif it really measures up. Here are a couple ofquestions you need to ask yourself to help you get your website in shape forthe New Year: 1.      How does your clientcontact you? Can they find your phone number quickly and easily? Take a look atyour homepage. Where is your phone number? If you can’t spot it right away,then you need to get it in plain sight right now. Don’t make it hard for yourpotential clients to call you! 2.      What does your businessdo? This may sound like a no brainer, but you’d be surprised at how many peoplewill look at a site and just don’t get what the business is selling. Yourclients aren’t going to take the time to figure it out. They are going to movealong to your competition. During the holiday parties, pull up your site. Askpeople to look at the site for 10 seconds. Then ask them to tell you what thecompany does. If they don’t get it right… it’s time to rethink your design andcopy. 3.      Does your design giveoff the image you want it to? Are you a professional company that wants tocommunicate strength and reliability? Does your website say that about you?Take a moment to come up with a few key phrases that you want people to thinkof when they look at your company’s website. Now ask a few people to look atyour site and come up with their own phrases or descriptions. If the two aren’teven remotely similar… it’s time to get your website design back on the righttrack. 4.      Can you easily navigateyour site to find everything? If your site is confusing and hard to find whatyou are looking for, then you’re going to have a problem. Start off by askingyourself who is going to use this site. Is it potential clients? If so, thenthe design and copy of your site needs to cater to their needs. If your site isfor current clients, then the message needs to change. If both will be lookingat your site, then it’s time to consider separating the two. Have a section ofyour site devoted to your current clients. Place this navigation on yourhomepage so they know exactly where to go. 5.      Are there clearcall-to-actions? Ok, so I’m on your site. What now? Where do I go? What do Ido? Give your visitors something to do. Tell them to call you for a quote. Orfill out a form. Again, don’t make it difficult for your visitors to getthrough to you. With the New Year comingup, it’s important that you take the time to revisit your website design andcopy to make sure you are making the right impression on your customers. Siteslike www.prova.fm   offer quality and affordable ways to hire a   website designer   who can help you achieve your new look. Thecompany allows  web designers  to bid on your project with actual designs for you to choose from.You don’t pay unless you select a  web designer . These kinds of companies are making it extremely reasonable forsmall businesses to get quality website design.  About the Author Gianna Viani is a   marketingwriter   and   internetmarketer for Firefly Writing, a professional copywriting firm based in  Orlando,Florida . For more information onhow your small business can benefit from the website design services mentioned inthis article, you can visit   www.prova.fm . For more helpful resourceson advertising for your business, visit our blog at http://advertisinghelp.wordpress.com/ .

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