After selling and creating websites for almost two decades, there is still one thing I return to when I speak with clients. Although I feel it first, I know it will soon affect the website’s long-term return on investment (ROI) and your satisfaction. I’m talking about lack of investment in the third phase of a website’s life: Maintenance and upkeep.
As a website owner, knowing your way around the three phases of website investment is essential. Your website will be productive from the moment it’s launched, and it will continue to serve as a first-rate sales and marketing channel that drives revenue year after year. Here’s some insights into the three phases — and what not to forget.
Phase 1: Research and Planning
The second-most forgotten phase of a website’s life looks at the marketing performance of your existing website and those of your competitors. As an agency that combines marketing and technology expertise, we find this phase especially exciting. Knowing how your site visitors behave allows us to optimize your new website already before it has been launched.
You can also learn a lot from looking at similar businesses, and how they interact with their potential customers. Using our in-house expertise, we help our clients see what’s worth noticing and sort good ideas from bad ones. The best success factor is to pin-point the areas where there is unoccupied space for your brand to stand out.
The in-depth knowledge gathered makes it possible for us to guide you to the best technology choices. It will also be easier to prioritize functionality and ensure best results at a reasonable cost.
Phase 2: Implementation
This is the phase most people think about when they hear “website investment”: Building and launching a site. This is also where your investment in research and planning will pay off.
Having already done thorough market research, made the right technology choices, and optimized the content structure, the implementation phase should feel like ticking off boxes on a shopping list. Together, we’re putting a well-defined plan into action.
However, there is one investment that is often underappreciated in this phase: Content. On the surface, it might look like the easy task anyone can do — but content is not a place to cut costs. Good content, expertly created and curated, is central to generating return on your investment.
Phase 3: Maintenance and Upkeep
From the day your website launches, it should be an effective sales-driver and income generator for your business. But let’s face it: No website is ever perfect, and the web is a landscape in constant change.
The launch day should be the beginning of a continuous journey of exploration, learning, and improvement. This is the investment that maintains — and increases — your website’s effectiveness. With the right focus, it will be serving you better and better, year after year.
Keeping up-to-date also means regular software updates, which gives you access to the most recent features in your favorite content management system. It also keeps you in compliance with GDPR and other legal requirements.
A website without regular maintenance, upkeep, and fresh content will quickly not only feel expired, but also start lacking in performance. This, in turn, will negatively affect both user experience and SEO. A website needs this investment to serve its purpose, and why cut the cost of keeping a trustworthy, continuously improving source of income?
Talk to us about ensuring your website’s long-term profitability.
