Updating Your Website vs Replacing It; How To Decide:
You wouldn’t go to a business meeting in gym shorts and a T-shirt or be rude to a prospective client.
As a home builder, you must present yourself as professional, so if you’re careful about how you present yourself to one or two clients, doesn’t it make sense to be cautious about how you present yourself to thousands of clients online?
With the ever-increasing centrality of the internet in our lives, you must maintain a professional, easy-to-use website. Finding homebuyers online and keeping them engaged has never been more important. The world of web design moves rapidly, and it’s critical to keep up with the latest trends.
On the other hand, you have a limited budget. This is important to consider when deciding whether to replace your homebuilder website, hire a homebuilder website developer, make a few updates to your homebuilder web design, or leave it alone.
Here are five factors to consider when deciding to update or replace a website:
- Understand Why You Want To Change Your Website
- Your Website Should Reflect Your Goals
- A Website Needs To Be Mobile Friendly
- Navigating A Website Should Be Easy
- Make Sure Your Website Fits Your Business Model and Near-Term Plans
Understand Why You Want To Change Your Website
Do you want to change the look of your existing website? Maybe update the content writing for builders? Or, are you interested in significant structural changes (like adding pages, removing navigation items, installing virtual tours and other features, etc.)?
The answers to these questions matter greatly because they can help point the way forward. It’s often easier and more affordable than business owners think to make minor improvements to a website. Over the long run, however, it’s cheaper to begin with a clean slate if you need significant changes.
Your Website Should Reflect Your Goals
If your existing homebuilder website accomplishes what you need, you probably don’t need a total redesign. Conversely, if you are embarrassed by the look of your site or it lacks essential features like a shopping cart or a mobile-friendly layout, then you shouldn’t hold onto a design that isn’t working.
There are both strategic and technical elements to this issue. If your website and homebuilder logo aren’t helping you to attract homebuyers or create a strong brand, it’s probably costing you money. If it runs slowly, produces error messages, or is otherwise difficult to use, those issues must be addressed promptly.
A Website Needs To Be Mobile Friendly
Being mobile-friendly is now more critical than being desktop-friendly. Over half of internet traffic worldwide is from phones and mobile devices. Your home builder website should be mobile-optimized.
According to Quick Sprout, “mobile-friendly content just means that content appears well not just on desktop computers but also on smaller mobile devices. That means the text is easily readable, links and navigation are easily clickable, and it’s easy to consume the content in general.”
Try this Google tool if you don’t know whether your site is mobile-friendly. There are plenty of excellent examples of mobile-friendly websites if you need inspiration.
Navigating A Website Should Be Easy
Customers have short attention spans. People are used to instant access to information. If a customer can’t figure out how to navigate your site, they may leave. You probably know your website like the back of your hand, but they don’t.
- Make Sure The Navigation Is Easy and Clear
- Understand Human Behavior And What They Are Searching For
- Install Search Functionality On Your Site
Make Sure Your Existing Website Fits Your Business Model and Near-Term Plans
Although most homebuilders come to us for website redesigns because of aesthetic issues, error messages, and related problems, these should be secondary concerns.
The best reason to talk to a business web designer is that you want your online presence to match your real-world business and development plans.
In other words, if your company is growing or changing, your website should also. Never forget that your online builder marketing automation aims to support your business growth targets, not just to keep up with the competition.
Finding the Cost-Effective Web Design Answers that You Need:
If you’re like most homebuilders we work with, you probably wish you could afford to replace your website every year. However, the realities of timing, budgets, and other constraints mean you must occasionally settle for more minor changes and improvements.
Our designers, programmers, and business growth experts can help you find a strategy that maximizes your marketing budget and business opportunities. Contact us today to schedule a free consultation and see how we can help you discover the best way forward!
Visit Power Marketing for a digital marketing plan that produces results.