Does Your Website Need a Rebuild?
When The Marketing Square rebuilds websites, we don’t necessarily change the website visuals. That’s called a rebuild and redesign. Website rebuilds don’t mean website redesign.
We often suggest a client change the theme and the technology so that the website is search-engine friendly. We only build in WordPress and can rebuild any site to look nearly identical to what it looks like currently.
You have worked many years to build brand equity then you don’t change the look. Sure, you can update it, but you don’t change it.
BUT if you’re changing services, or more specifically, if your business is struggling, then we always recommend redesign AND a rebuild.
Rebuild vs. Redesign
There’s a big difference between a rebuild and a redesign. The question is whether you know if you need a rebuild and a redesign? The simple test is whether you’re losing business and clients.
If you’re not bringing in the revenue you need, your firm is not coming back after the pandemic, or the services you offered are no longer selling, then it’s time to change things.
We’ll know that in the meeting we have that looks at how you’re marketing yourself and what your key services and products are.
- Did a law change that affects your firm?
- Did you lose a partner?
- Add a partner?
- Lose a major client?
If what you did made you money for years until the recession or the pandemic. You’re not alone. That happened to most businesses.
If your business struggled through the recession and the pandemic, you’re not alone.
But if you want to be prepared for the ups and downs we’ll help you make changes to bring in the new clients.
Refresh Copy, Add New Features in Website Rebuild
If you are rebuilding your website with The Marketing Square, we include a complete refresh of all your copy. If you have 180 blog posts, 30 pages of copy and they’ve been sitting untouched we rewrite it all for you. We also redo the SEO. Or start your SEO if you don’t have it.
Many don’t. SEO, Search Engine Optimization is the activity on your website that is done regularly with blog posts and updates. It’s coding and programming, etc. SEO is what an expert does. It’s not something that everyone can do and if you’re Googling this to see what’s done, you’re not an expert.
FYI: Do you really believe that the best marketing techniques are shared?
Content rewriting is a breeze for The Marketing Square team. Existing copy can be refreshed.
The Marketing Square Website Rebuilds Include:
- A new website infrastructure and design built completely and custom-designed for every client in WordPress
- Content rewrite, new content
- New SEO on that rewritten and new content
- New video
- Create social media profiles with uniform graphics, photos, content
- New online profiles
- New photography
- Responsive Website Design (mobile version and format that conforms to all devices and browsers)
But we can and will retain the existing colors, logo, tagline of the brand so that your website looks refreshed, sharper, more user-friendly. NOT foreign.
We can completely rebuild your website almost identically to what you had if that’s what you want.
Strengthen and Reinforce What DOES Work
We strengthen and reinforce what works and do all we can to build upon the momentum, continued success and to maintain the brand equity that comes with the existing strong visuals.
We change the website visuals when the existing business is not selling product or services and is offering new services or products or has actually changed management or direction.
We suggest rebuilds with new colors, new looks and a different way of reaching the clients that they want to reach. Those colors are researched and are based on your target audience. If you think pink will reach women, think again. If you think blue is for boys, you’re very wrong.
Don’t guess. Don’t walk in with your favorite colors and say use this. If it’s not going to work for you we’re not going to suggest it.
Some websites were built with no marketing plan. No advertising rationale and were sending no message or the wrong message. We have to turn that around.
Stuck on Something Old, Nothing New? That’s Fine
On occasion we get a client who does not need to change the website design. We also get clients who SHOULD change but won’t.
They say “I like this and think it’s pretty.” OR, “Why should I change, I have to change all my other marketing.” OR “I just printed business cards.”
OK, if you’re worried about saving $100 on biz cards or can’t redo what’s NOT working then we will rebuild, we will keep the exact website. No problem or argument.
If you want it as is, we can duplicate even a Flash website in WordPress. There will be one or two slight visual differences, but not noticeable. We can do that and sometimes that’s all you want. We’ll leave it as is but update your engine.
But, if you do want to change some visuals, we’ll rebuild it for you and we will explain why we recommend change. It’s never personal. It’s based solely on your target audience.
Example: You’re selling coffee cups with cute kittens on them. Everyone loves them and you launch a website to sell them. It works great for years and you’re the king or queen of kitten cups online.
Then, you add puppy cups. You throw them on the site and they don’t sell. You’re stunned. You invested $10,000 in puppy cups and can’t sell them.
Do you know why?
We know why and we’ll tell you why and tell you how to sell them and why we suggest what we do. We research and test to make sure that your puppy cups will sell. You may have missed some marketing steps. We’ll backtrack and get you turned around so that you can sell that $10K worth of puppy cup inventory.
Add: Social Media, Blog or Column and Video
Marketing Square website rebuilds include social media and other tactics that were NOT being utilized on your previous website.
Please, before you say you hate Facebook, do a little research on how important the links to and from social media to your website are. That’s the only reason we use them. We’re not crazy social butterflies we use social media to drive website traffic. We work at getting clients valuable, strategic followers/likers/plussers/linkers who will take a look at your website content, columns, videos.
You don’t have to like it but you’d better do it or pay someone else to do it. It needs to be used regularly and often. We add it and teach you how to update them all at once using a simple little program.
Blog is a Fancy Word for Column or Article
Any client who has a website needs a blog, a column or place to put regular articles or stories.
We don’t want you to talk about what you had for dinner, what you did at the shop/store/office. We want you to share valuable information with your clients and target audience.
You don’t have to be a prolific or professional author to tell clients how to get the most of your product. You don’ t need an English degree to explain the features of your product or why they should select your product over the competition.
But you need to write something.
Buy Dragon software to install on your computer. Then, you can talk into a microphone and the Dragon software, when trained will transcribe every word that you say.
You need to train it with your voice which takes one or two tries.
Marketing Square Provides Legal Website Content, Medical Website Content
If you’re busy in court or in surgery, hire a content provider for your website. The Marketing Square provides clients with content services that can include SEO coding on the posts when they’re completed. Packages begin at $1,000/month.
Copy needs to be added to websites and become actively engaged. The clients were missing out by not blogging regularly to tell clients the news they needed to know.
Newsletters Are Dated and Old-Fashioned
I cringe when clients tell me they want to start newsletter campaign. Why? Because they’re dated and old-fashioned.
When newsletters began there was less SPAM, more e-mail conversations, more need to share information with clients by e-mail. NOW, clients want to know how the heck you got them on an e-mail list for a newsletter they didn’t sign up for.
Do your research and respect the privacy of your clients’ e-mail addresses. Just because you have 1,000 e-mail addresses doesn’t mean you have the right to
Question: When was the last time you were EXCITED to open and read any newsletter?
PS: Blog on your website vs. send a newsletter. Newsletters are dated. They’re dinosaurs and duplicate the amount of work a busy owner needs to tackle. You have to write for your website and for your newsletter. A good newsletter response rate is a 2-4% open rate. The newsletters take hours to build. Put your time into your website — the place you want to do business with new clients. If you need NEW business don’t go back to old clients. That’s the lazy way. Generate new business with new activities.
We suggest change because the old way WAS NOT WORKING. Points of contact were not being utilized. It’s about getting revenue to increase. The services that used to sell were not selling. The clientele was changing and the services offered were also changing.
The rebuild was performed to strengthen the brand, appeal to the NEW TARGET so those NEW SERVICES would reach the correct audience. When results from the rebuild start to kick in clients love it!
But on occasion, after a website rebuild is approved, suddenly, fear kicks in and the clients hate the new site even after having approved it.
We don’t rush approvals. We tell clients to look at it, work with it and then let us know before we take it live. It’s not a simple decision.
On occasion, there are feelings of remorse that we were idiots to suggest the rebuild that we broke the Marketing 101 rules. They want back what they had. This is the fear factor. Fear of the unknown. Until they get their first new client. Then, it’s all OK again.
Let’s say they can’t stick it out and wait for the change to sink in and begin working, we give back the old. This isn’t free and fees apply so that the old site can be reactivated. This has happened once in three years and eventually the one was rebuilt. Change is very hard.
Don’t Wait For a Rebuild: Tear Off the Band-Aid
Owners often wait until they’re really struggling and their dated website will not work before they will consider website rebuilds. This is very bad for your website domain.
Search engines penalize non-working, dated, non-user friendly, broken-linked, websites. Your penalties stay on your domain and then, we have more road to make up when we do the rebuild and relaunch it.
Don’t let the penalties build up on your domain. It’s time to update and at least start with a landing page that’s functional and smooth-running.
No Downtime During Website Rebuilds
We don’t take your existing website down at any point during the rebuild. We don’t recommend it even if you want it.
We generally do two types: Live Rebuilds or We build on a server and move it when you’ve approved it to your domain.
At no point are you without a website. And when the switch is made and we move it, there is usually no more than a few minutes that your website is actually “down.”
We take it live during off-business hours so that no one will see it.
And remember, your website was broken. Who’s looking at it anyway, right?
When you contact The Marketing Square to find out how long it will take to complete your website rebuild, we’ll tell you it’s generally 30-60 days.
Ready for Your Rebuild?
When you decide it’s time to rebuild your website we talk with you and meet with you in-person to learn about your business. We shoot video at your offices or store or venue. We take pictures of your location, your team and you. We take your website very seriously and interview you so that we completely understand what you do and who your clients are.
There is a careful process established to handle your information, set a timeline around your schedule and when it’s conducive to your schedule.
The reason we’re open late and all weekend is for our clients who are busy lawyering and doctoring during the week. We specialize in legal websites and medical websites, legal copy and medical copy. We keep apprised of the rules that apply to attorneys and what the bar requires of lawyers online. We keep up with the rules and restrictions that govern medical websites and online marketing and will ask that you keep apprised as well.
The Marketing Square works with a range of businesses in a variety of capacities:
- Public relations
- Video
- Content
- Social media
- Online profiles
- Research
- Search Engine Optimization
- Search Engine Marketing
- Marketing Plans (All clients get a basic marketing plan)
- Public Relations Plans
Changing your website doesn’t have to be drastic, but your website might need to be more than subtle. The goal is to shake things up and make a difference in every client’s business for the better. Our team isn’t doing this for the first time and have 20 years in each area of expertise.
The Marketing Square provides clients proven web results.
