Investing In Your Website
It’s one thing to go out and have someone put together a decent website for you, but to invest in a website that’s build to last is another thing entirely. I cannot tell you how often it is that I stumble across a website that is improperly maintained, lacking in design, and just plain lazy. It goes a long way toward making the company the website represents seem a lot more unprofessional than they might actually be.
First impressions are everything. And for many consumers, the first page of a company’s website is that first impression. Here’s an example, head on over to Apple Computers’ website at www.apple.com. The website is sleek, it’s modern, it’s hip, and it just looks professional. Apple does a good job at showing their customers their professionalism through their sleek, modern style. Now, head on over to another computer manufacturers website, Lenovo for example over at http://www.lenovo.com/us/en/. Lenovo makes a bit of a different first impression compared to Apple’s. It begins to make a little more sense why most of the general U.S. population thinks of Apple as the relevant corporation it claims to be. While the Lenovo website isn’t “bad” by any means, it’s just that it’s not as awe inspiring or as original as Apple’s.
A good analogy for a well-designed website is this: Think of your website as another employee. When hiring someone, do you look for someone who can get the job done for a few weeks or months before letting them go? Or do you look for an individual who you hope to invest time, resources, and training into for an employee who will last years? Well, I would like to encourage you to think of your website as another employee, you are paying for the website to be hosted after all. Like any employee, your website will need investment of time and money to continue to adequately benefit your organization. Invest in your website, and like all investments, you’ll get your time and money’s worth.