Why Now is the Time to Update Your Website
Business in the time of COVID has radically changed. On the one hand, industries where social distancing proved impossible, such as dine-in restaurants and gyms, were hit hard. Employees were released, small businesses shuttered, and the country is facing unemployment numbers that haven’t been seen since the Great Depression.
However, it’s hard to not notice that some industries, like meal kit delivery, alcoholic beverages, hand sanitizer, and home improvement, have boomed during the pandemic, and with many traditional brick-and-mortar businesses closed, consumers have been forced to rely even more heavily on the internet for their shopping.
As a result, the necessity of an improved e-commerce experience is an obvious example of why now is the time to update your website if you sell a physical product, but what about the rest of us? Why should we invest in our online presence right now if our audience won’t necessarily be making a purchase directly online? Here are three reasons why it’s always a good idea to update your website, but especially during this unusual season we’re in:
Communication
For every company, no matter the industry, your website is an opportunity to communicate with your customers, and right now clear communication can mean the difference in getting the business or not. What is your COVID policy? Will your service providers be wearing masks? Have your customer support hours changed? Will shipping be delayed? Having answers to questions like these readily available will hopefully provide reassurance and prevent dissatisfaction with customers.
Credibility
If anything is certain right now, it’s that life is uncertain, and unfortunately, uncertainty negatively affects consumer confidence, which then leads to a decline in spending. According to Lynn Franco, Senior Director of Economic Indicators at the Conference Board, a non-partisan non-profit that conducts research including the Consumer Confidence Index®, Consumer Confidence improved in June 2020, but is still “well below pre-pandemic levels.” So now more than ever it’s important to have a website that exudes trustworthiness. If consumers are nervous about spending, they want to make sure that the company they are doing business with will deliver, and a company that has invested in itself with a professional online presence gets that message across.
Culture
One thing customers frequently miss when browsing online versus in-person is getting a feel for a company’s culture. While you can’t have a favorite candle burning or a friendly greeter welcoming people into your website, it is an extension of your brand and should look like it. By embodying the ethos of your brand online and sharing your company culture, you’re giving customers back a little of that in-person experience.
It was clear that the Internet wasn’t going anywhere before COVID, but the pandemic has sent us flocking to the convenience and availability of The World Wide Web. Someday, hopefully soon, there will be a vaccine or cure for COVID-19, but by then these changes in behavior for how we do business as a society will be set and a professionally designed website will be essential. So, put on your consumer glasses and take a critical look at your website. Is it ready for the future?
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