When I hit a website, I instantly look at the timeliness and accuracy of content. If peeking
in the virtual windows reveals nothing but dust and cobwebs I immediately surf away. This holds true whether I am literally out shopping for a product or simply doing research on potential service providers. My assumption is that if they don’t care about the image they are putting forward and how they are serving their prospects, how will they treat me when I work with them? How reliable will they be?
Now, just for the record, I am not an utter and complete website snob. When I say that I want to see a strong and up to date presence that doesn’t mean it has to be a $5,000 slickly designed site with a ton of bells and whistles. In fact, I am into simplicity and a clean look as I am sure you can tell from the design on my website. What I do want to see is some indication that someone is home inside that website and they are still fully open for business and ready to serve.
This morning I was reading some of my favorite blogs and it reminded me of one of my favorite pet peeves when it comes to seeing if a website is up to date and if someone is attuned to the details. Leah at Working Solo hit the nail on the head:
When I browse around the web I almost always use the “copyright statement” as an indicator of how much attention the company pays to their online presence.It is generally just one small line at the bottom of the website but it can say a great deal about the freshness of the site and whether they should come back to see new content sooner or later (or never).
Of course I don’t stop there. Let’s face it, that little copyright line is easy to change, but equally easy to forget about. I must confess that while I have been updating content on my websites weekly since the start of 2008, this little detail did in fact slip my mind on one of my sites until today.
That’s why besides the copyright statement, I do a quick surf around to look at things like events, calendars, and latest news. If we’re looking at dates more than a month or two old, I know that either:
1) They are on an extended vacation at which time I want to see some note about taking a hiatus in the calendar section
2) They aren’t doing much with their business right now
3) They have plenty of business and are busy serving but have not put updating their website on the radar map in terms of a priority.
The sad thing about this is that it doesn’t have to take a lot of time or money to ensure your web presence is up to date and that it is saying what you WANT to be said about you and your business. After all, who knows who you’re turning away when you don’t mind the (virtual) front window of your business.
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