Category Archives: Business Processes

Does Your Website Need A Refresh?

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Last week I refreshed the design of my website. I love how it looks (thank you Mark Tatro and Barry Shuchter).

The last time I updated it was about three years ago, when small businesses and solos were just turning toward having “responsive” websites. I decided to hold off back then, but these days it’s a necessity.

If you’re not sure what I’m talking about, a responsive website responds: It adjusts depending on the device it’s being displayed on, whether that is a desktop, phone or tablet. That makes it easily viewed whatever the situation.

Although the text and images on my site mostly stayed the same during this process, I took the opportunity to review every single page – including all my past blog posts. I love reviewing web sites, so you can imagine how happy I was to give myself the gift of doing it for my own!

It was a good reminder too of things that can go wrong and/or need updating on a web site over time.

Here are some things to watch for on your own site:

1. Check Your Links. I was shocked by the number of broken links I found. But I guess it makes sense – some of them were put there seven years ago when I first launched my RocketGirl website.

By the way, make sure that when a link takes somebody off your site (e.g., to a book you mention), that it “opens a new tab” in the browser. That way your website visitor can easily click back to your site and keep looking around. Making this happen is just a simple setting when creating the link.

2. Read Every Page. Yes, read every single page on your site. Does it represent you? Is your message clear? Could someone reading your site understand why they would want to work with you? Is your phone number on your contact page (really, I saw this missing on a website just today)?

When I relaunched my website I read every blog post too. Some had font discrepancies, spacing issues, links that were different colors than my website palate. Some just plain needed to be taken down because they no longer made sense. It took some time, but it was worth it to be confident that every page looked consistent.

3. Get Great Graphics. Take a close look (with your reading glasses on if necessary) at the graphics on your website. Is your logo pixelated (fuzzy)? Do you have images with a white background instead of transparent on pages that have a colored background? How old is your head shot? Are you using bland stock photography? Time to upgrade if any of this is you.

4. Check Your Phone. More than half of the visitors to your site will do so on a phone – make sure your site looks good and is easily readable.

5. Review Your Dashboard. Take peek at the backend of your website (or get a qualified professional to do it with you). Are there plugins that you aren’t using that might be slowing things down? Is your website running on the latest version of WordPress (or whatever you run your website on)? Keep your website running smoothly by paying attention to these important details.

Remember that for many people, your website is the first place where they will form an impression of you and your business. Take steps now to make sure the impression is a good one!

The Dangers Of Auto-Pilot

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On Tuesday, I met my friend Robyn at Le Pain Quotidian in New Canaan for lunch. I’ve always thought the service there was terrible, but Robyn loves the quinoa salad so I agreed to eat there.

It was the last week in August so the restaurant was practically empty. In fact, even though it was noon, there was only one other occupied table.

You’d think that with a diner-to-server ratio of just three to one we would have experienced at least slightly improved service. Nope. It was worse. It took 21 minutes for our order to be taken; they brought me my salad twice; we had to repeatedly call out to get a server’s attention; and they messed up the check.

Bazzam!, I thought (as I often do). Nearly every potential restaurant service issue had just played out in front of us. Too bad the manager wasn’t watching (although I have no doubt that’s part of the problem).

It’s the same in the world of solo professionals. When we’re working at breakneck speed and juggling a million things, we don’t have time to notice inefficiencies and breakdowns. We just keep going, saying things like “I’m crazy busy,” all the while jumping (or tripping) over ourselves.

That’s why it’s so important to slooowww down every once in a while and take a look at what your customers and clients are seeing when they interact with your business.

Things hidden to you:

1.Your newsletter opt-in/opt-out Process. When someone unsubscribes from your newsletter – what do they see? In the example below, a rather large international company that uses MailChimp named their subscriber list “Brother (Leak #2).” I have no idea what that means, but there it was when I opted out.

Also take a look at what happens when they subscribe. Do they get an email with the default text from MailChimp or Constant Contact, or a warm, personalized welcome from you? If there’s a free download on your site, is it up to date? Are you proud of it or is it something you “set and forgot” five years ago?

Subscribe to your list; unsubscribe to your list. Look carefully at what happens. Fix the mistakes.

2. Check your email “from” line. I know I’ve said this a thousand times, but today I got an email newsletter from dsmith. I almost didn’t open it because it looked like spam.

Send yourself an email and see how the “from line” looks and what it says. Send one from your tablet, your phone, your laptop, your newsletter software, your accounting software (if you email invoices). Check them all and fix as needed.

Make sure it’s your first and last name, with the first letter of each capitalized. Anything else makes you look unprofessional. Extra credit: include your company name to so it looks like this: “Belinda Wasser | RocketGirl Solutions.”

3. Check your website. Know what it says and how it works. Today I ordered a keychain online for Greg’s son Andy. Pictured below is the “Thank You for Purchasing” page. Clearly no one has tested this since it says the same thing twice.

Is this a big deal? For many people, probably not – but it does make me wonder if they’re paying attention to the details.

Remember. Take a look around your business and put yourself in the shoes of your clients and customers. What impression are you making?