I’ve always thought if we were builders or plasterers or electricians or plumbers, the renovation of our home would have been a whole lot easier. After all, with those skills, you’d do it yourself, wouldn’t you? But then we know people who have these skills, who generally get other people to do their building/renovation work – simply because they are too busy working for clients, and doing it yourself means you are not earning.
The same kind of applies to website design. It’s always bewildered me why we can’t just have a new website when I want one. Surely it’s easy? It’s what we do! But, being more and more closely involved in our design business has made me realise that we are way down the list of priorities, as clients always come first and if we have sufficient work, why change our website?
But, with a summer almost over and a new season incoming, the time has come to take our own advice, grasp the nettle and design a whole fresh new look and feel…
A number of our clients have recently opted to have website refreshes or redesigns and seeing the results, has made me realise that we need to do the same. We need to make the time to completely overhaul our own online presence as it was becoming dated, and in some places, out of date. We like to showcase the work we do for clients, but when those clients have moved on or are no longer actually in business, we need to focus on tidying up our portfolio. We need to make the time to add new designs, and illustrate the kind of work we now do, as we have also moved on. Testimonials are great and like everyone, we love reading positive affirmations – BUT when we still have quotes online from long-gone clients, often with websites now designed elsewhere (because, every now and again, this happens…), we need to have a clear out. And that clear out is commencing!
We are finally taking our own advice and doing what we advise our clients to do. Reflect on your current online presence.
- As pretty as it might still look, is it still doing what you want it to do?
- Is it still relevant?
- Does it demonstrate exactly where your business is now, rather than when it was initially designed?
- Does it tell your customers and clients exactly what you do now and what you can offer?
We’ve reflected and realised that our current website, as pretty as it is, definitely does not do these things. As well as being a bit stagnant – we always tell ourselves we are too busy to actually update our own website – *BIG MISTAKE* – it’s also out of date in places. Our design skills and practices have moved on massively since we created the current version of our website, and it now looks and feels a bit clunky.
But, the most awful part of the website, has always been our blog. Our blog was never intended to be a stand-alone WordPress one, tagged onto the website. It was done as a quick-fix and the intention was always to deal with it. It never happened. Every time I uploaded a blog, I shuddered. Because it hadn’t been a priority for us – client work always taking priority – it was still WP branded and, as a result, we were pretty constrained in the way it looked. We’d NEVER, EVER do a client blog like this, so it did beg the question, if we are supposed to be designers, why on earth was ours like this?
And so finally, we are taking our own advice and giving ourselves an overhaul. I obviously want it done NOW. Or, by tomorrow at the latest, but I know that’s not going to happen as our clients still take priority. But, I am going to ensure that we carve out time to get this website sorted. As we constantly remind clients, your website is like your shop window. And our shop window is going to be a show-stopper. Just like these websites we’ve recently launched for clients…
Are you ready to do what we’re doing and take our advice?
If you are, and you feel that your online presence needs to be injected with a bit of oomph – or if indeed, you need to get online – then why not get in touch? You can still fill in our design enquiry form and see examples of our work here, whilst we work in the background. Or, alternatively, send us a message via the form over to the right, and we’ll reply asap.
