Websites are not static

Prior to websites being developed, businesses would invest in a brochure. It would take time to create and much effort would be put into it, as it would be the ‘leave behind’ for that company for probably many years to come. This was before digital print, when smaller runs could be printed cost-effectively. If anything changed for the business, such as a new address, then it wasn’t unusual to see these brochures with labels on them, updating vital information.

Then websites came along and many businesses abandoned their glossy brochures for an online version of more or less the same brochure. The trouble is many corporates – and we hate to say it – website developers still treat websites like the brochures from years gone by… The reality is websites are not meant to be static and they benefit from being updated, certainly from an SEO perspective.

The way that many website agencies work though is to produce a website for a client in rather the same way brochures of old would be produced. The finished product is often beautiful and glossy and, for a few weeks at least, it looks amazing. Then the client needs a change made and the support just isn’t there, often because the focus is now on the next big project for another client. 

Websites evolve over time. There are probably parts of the website which might not change very much at all but there are sections which need regular attention, such as SEO and areas such as the news/blogs section. It’s certainly important to have a content creation plan from the start, as we’ve all clicked on websites where the news section was active for the three or four months after a website was created and now either has no new blogs or they appear sporadically. Of course, Google also loves websites with regularly updated and relevant content. 

The approach to SEO also needs to evolve. There might be keywords which a business uses when a website is launched but these will need updating, as it becomes apparent what works and what doesn’t. 

Also, the majority of websites do need a certain amount of tweaking once they’ve been ‘let loose’ on the public. It’s simple to track a visitor’s journey through a site and if there’s a section where they click away or it’s at all clunky, then small adjustments can be made. Of course, we do test our websites, so it’s not likely to be a technical problem which needs fixing – but more the realisation perhaps that a section of the website could do with being more prominent and easier to find perhaps. 

The key to overcoming any initial teething problems and then to keeping the site updated is having website support you can rely on. As we said above, some companies discover that their website designer is focused on creating a great site but isn’t so engaged with the maintenance side of the project. This means that, very soon, a website can start to look tired and out-of-date. 

At Target Ink, we have changed the approach to web design. We still work hard to produce a wonderful website for our clients but we make sure clients know that’s only the start. Our clients benefit from our ongoing maintenance which means our websites truly are built to last.

This, however, doesn’t help companies which have a shiny website – which they might have built themselves or that another agency has developed for them – but no ongoing maintenance or a contract which they don’t feel they are getting the best from. Having increasingly being asked if we can ‘take over’ maintenance of sites we haven’t developed by companies who are struggling to get the help and support they need, we have launched Ground Control. 

Ground Control is a package which gives clients access to our well-regarded maintenance service and the ongoing support which our existing clients benefit from and depend on. If you want to discover more, then get in touch.