By Jeff Dostal

Subscribers to Marketing Firepower understand the value a website plays in the overall marketing and advertising success of a business. They understand that a website is not so much an advertising medium as a place to share valuable information and to help move consumers through their Buying Funnel. If the business can utilize ecommerce on their site, that’s a bonus.

However, not every business understands this. The other day I went to a website of a company I was interested in doing business with to get some contact information. I “Googled” the name of the company and found their site. I was instantly disappointed. At the bottom right of the page the company “proudly” stated (they had to be proud because it was very obvious) their site had last been updated in July of 2007. 2007!

Two thoughts for them: 1. Don’t tell me when it was last updated or here is a novel idea; 2. Update it!

Your website, which you really should have, will often be one of your first interactions with a potential customer. You wouldn’t have them walk into your place of business after not making any updates or changes for 18 months, why let it happen with your website?

Consumers make some pretty big leaps and they can make them fast. For example, airline passengers that notice stained headrests on passenger seats often make the leap that the maintenance of the plane’s engines should also be questioned. It does not matter if it makes sense to make this leap or not, it happens.

If your website is not up to date, what will the possible customer think about your business? Who knows? But do you want to take that chance?

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Tags: website, small business