The recession made many businesses slash marketing budgets, and websites often suffered. But sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and get up-to-date – or suffer the online consequences.
To show you what we’re talking about, here’s Workbox’s flippant, hyperbolic and possibly tasteless look at web issues we’ve recently encountered. Is your site guilty of one of these sins?
#10 – You have a Telex address on your company’s “Contact Us” page.
Sure, your address is probably up-to-date, but are you showing an accurate driving map or using a new directions feature like Google Maps? Is someone in your office actually receiving and responding to your “info” emails?
#9 – Employees cross out your company’s URL on their business cards and replace it with their LinkedIn addresses.
The real question is whether your website is helping your sales, marketing and hiring teams or not. If your site hasn’t been updated in a while, you might be missing some new tricks and techniques to increase leads.
#8 – Footer: © 1999
A simple script can save you the effort of updating the copyright date every year!
#7 – You call that guy who built your website and get Chico’s Bail Bonds instead.
Apologies to the Bad News Bears …
#6 – Your grandmother calls to say, “I went to your website. Just making sure you’re still alive.”
What isn’t funny is that grandparents are a large and important demographic on sites like Facebook. Have you addressed legibility issues?
#5 – Your active client list includes Lehman Brothers.
Are you sure the links to client websites are still good? Are they still in business? Is the logo current?
#4 – You have a glowing testimonial from Bernie Madoff.
Make sure the folks who wrote your testimonials aren’t doing hard time.
#3 – Your “About Us” page says you’ve been in business for a decade. You started your business in 1990.
We understand that creating content is one of the most difficult parts of your website. Hire an editor if you don’t have time to do it yourself.
#2 – The “Ship To” form shows Czechoslovakia between Cyprus and Denmark.
Although this is unlikely now, contemporary web technologies like AJAX make forms a lot easier to use. Are you taking advantage of the latest and greatest? Have you tested different checkout paths to see what converts best?
#1 – You’re wearing a “Frankie Say Relax” t-shirt in your bio page photo.
Let’s be honest – if your photo is 10 years old, it might be misleading. You might have lost a little hair, gained a little weight since then … oh, forget it – leave that old photo up!
Cheers, Eric