Of Broken Showers and Websites….

A few days before Christmas our shower started to go all funny. The water was either red hot or stone cold. No matter how much you twiddled the temperature knobs it was the same story. It was unusable and I wanted it out, I was just fed up with it. But with a few days to go before the festivities there was no chance of getting a new one fitted. Of course, I really should try to fix it anyway, I thought. But as I cannot even spell DIY, this was not my favourite option. Nevertheless, I bravely Googled away and found there were a few things I could try. Ten minutes later the shower was back in service. All I had needed was a bit of expert help to fix it, and there was no need to get rid of it at all. How Many Businesses Decide To Throw Out Their Websites Rather Than Fix Them? And that got me thinking. How many business owners decide to ‘throw away’ their website as it is not working, that is, not bringing in any sales or enquiries, when really, all they needed to do was to fix the one that they had? Like me, they would need expert help, but what type? After all, fixing a website is far harder a task than fixing a shower… First Steps The first obvious check is to see if the website is getting any traffic. If there are no visitors coming in, then one of the problems is that the marketing is not being done correctly. If there is traffic and it seems to be the right type, then the problem is more than likely to be down to poor website design or that the company’ss message is simply not being ‘put across’ in the right way. Many website owners will be able to do this simple check themselves, but then again, many would not know where to start. So, what should they do. Should they just throw the site away without knowing why it did not work, or should they ask an expert? Ask An SEO Expert My advice would be to ask an SEO expert to take a look. Asking them to run an audit on the site to see if they can locate the problem. There a lots of SEO companies that will run such an audit. Some charge, some don’t. You could of course contact me Graham Baylis of Serendipity Online Marketing, but Andy Poulton (see https://www.seo.enterprise-oms.uk) is another good option. These SEO audits (every SEO company does them differently) will reveal whether or not the site is getting the right sort of traffic and what sort of positions it has on Google. The level of detail being greatly improved if they are given access to Google Search Console. The SEO Audit If the audit shows that the site is not getting much traffic from Google, it will also say why this is the case and what needs to be fixed. This could involve website design changes to make the site faster (Google hates really slow loading sites) or changes to the page structure and content, or both. The latter could well mean that the services of a good copywriter are needed. Two that come to mind are Barry Hunt (see https://wordsmart.biz) and Anna Metcalfe (see https://www.cantaloupemarketing.co.uk), although some SEO companies can also cover this angle to a degree. One thing that can REALLY help is to follow the advice of Marcus Sheridan (see https://marcussheridan.com/). He has proved that just by answering the questions that your potential customers have in a full and honest way will improve your Google traffic and conversion rates (read his book ‘They Ask, You Answer’ for the full story). You may also need to consider obtaining traffic and building your user base in different ways, such as Newsletters and Email shots. One expert in this field, who can also write some ‘mean copy’ is Craig Holden (see http://www.c-h-m.co.uk/), someone who has also mastered the art of boosting conversions by using Chat Bots. However, as I said before, this audit could reveal that the site is getting visits, which then means that the problem lies elsewhere. Some SEO auditors will also provide their thoughts on whether the website is putting the right message across, but sometimes it is necessary to ask experts who deal with the way humans interact with websites. Again there are many about, two that I can recommend are Limarah Crathorne (see https://www.convert-more.com/) and Peter Baylis – see https://pebmarketingacademy.com/ (no relation). They both understand how people use websites and how you can design pages and use words to full effect. Of course, all of this could well result in you having to make such huge changes that getting a new site is the best option. As you can imagine there are a lot of website designers out there. However, there are two that from personal experience I can recommend. Larry Brangwyn (see https://www.linkedin.com/in/larrybrangwyn/) or Louise Maggs (see https://www.louisemaggsdesign.co.uk/) . Both have different ways of doing things, but both create websites that work… Is The Marketing Strategy Right? But, there could also be a bigger problem, as the entire marketing strategy could be wrong. Here you need the help of another type of expert. Someone who can tell you whether you are using the right methods to capture your customers in the first place and are selling to them in the right way. Two experts I know of here are Edward Williamson (see https://www.linkedin.com/in/edward-williamson-7b671b24/) and Adam Brooks (see https://salesacademy.uk.com/). Both are so full of energy and experience that just talking to them will set your mind racing. An How About The Brand Message? And if the brand is not quite right then a chat with Jane Anson (see https://idcreativedesign.co.uk could well be the answer I hope that is has all been useful and that you can now see that you should consider whether you really need a new website after all, and that perhaps, fixing your current one is really the best option? The experts mentioned here are all ready and able to help and I wish you the very best of luck in your journey. Please feel free to call me or email me at graham@somltd.co.uk if you want more information.

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