Much depends upon the information you’d like your website to convey. Your site can consist of a single page and be an online business card. You could list three or four products and services, a photo, maybe a 3-minute video clip of you in action, plus contact info. That may be sufficient to convince prospects that you are a capable professional worthy of consideration. Or you may prefer a more interactive and engaging site?
In any case, include a current products and services list if you’ve substantively altered—simplified, upgraded, expanded, or eliminated— what you provide. Upload a new photo if the original is three years old or more. Describe how your company can bring value to clients today.
Your blog or newsletter must have a link on the website. Your social media platforms will likewise be accessible there, as will videos, webinars and podcasts that feature you in a substantive role. Many of those will be on the landing page. Another page can feature case studies that help prospects envision how your expertise might help their organization resolve challenges and achieve goals.
This step might be the key to your website redesign. If you are serious about updating your site, contact an analytics service and sign up to obtain data that will guide the development of your website. There are a number of modestly priced website analytics services available and Google has a level that offers free analytics. Collect three or four months of data before the redesign.
First, you’ll learn the number of monthly visitors the site receives and the pages that are most often visited. Now you’ll know what visitors want to know. You’ll also learn which pages are least often visited and if there are pages that are quickly abandoned for other pages, or seem to cause visitors to exit your site. Ask your developer to build-in analytics or integration features, so that data will be yours at no extra charge, post-upgrade.
I write or edit three monthly newsletters and the analytics for each consistently show that about 50% of readers use mobile devices to read. The other half use either desk models or laptops. Don’t frustrate your visitors. Optimized for mobile. Both interactive and static websites can be mobile optimized.
Recently, I met a truly brilliant MIT educated web developer named Al. He showed me the site of a nationally known not-for-profit organization that on its website has an inoperable “donate now” button on the landing page. It’s imperative that all links and buttons on your website perform as intended, on all types of devices. Audio features must produce sound; videos must play; documents must download; e-commerce transactions must be secure.