A New Look - Iconography

Updating your website is something you should do every few years, like buying a new car or upgrading your laptop. You benefit from new technology all at once, advancements in the platform and improvements in the interface.

As a webdesign company, we spend so much time on our clients that it is really easy to overlook our own web presence. We're so pleased we made the effort, though. It's hard to describe how great it is to have a completely new website.

Aside from the obvious benefits, it's also a great learning experience, reminding us of all the little things that go into building a new website!

Typing, writing and proof reading

So long as you're not starting from scratch, you can get a head start on content. Even so, you're always going to want to update what you already have.

Whether it's a question of style, or simply correcting out of date information, you're going to have to do some typing. Of course, if you're adding something entirely new, then you'll have to do a lot of typing!

The one thing no one should ever forget is the proof reading. There is nothing more embarassing than a simple typo on your website, glaring out for all to see. We've had four different people check through the whole site, and that's not even counting the developers who built it!

We even had them looking beyond the obvious mistakes, to find the stylistic ones. Should it be ecommerce, eCommerce or e-commerce? There is always right way to do things; the one that involves consistency.

Getting permission

You don't want to start off on the wrong foot. Whether you're dealing with a supplier or a customer, you have to make sure you publish what you've created. In our case, it was talking to our clients to get their approval; we didn't want anyone to feel misrepresented or misquoted!

The other aspect of this is the correct use of images. We posted about this a while ago and all you need the permission of the photographer. If you don't have this, you don't have the right to use their photos.

For us, it was a simple case of asking some of our clients or buying rights free images from online suppliers like Dreamstime.

It's always better to ask. The alternative is painful.

Making a splash

As always, it doesn't matter what you've done. If you're not shouting about it, no one will see! It's unfair, but that is one of the rules of the internet.

Marketing is an essential part of what anyone does online, especially when what you're doing is marketing yourself!

An SEO overhaul is a great place to start, reviewing your keywords, content and meta data. If you want a long term impact, this is the place to start.

In the run up to your launch, you should also run a promotional campaign. Tease what you're doing and generate excitement. Promote your work on social media and by email.

Once the site is live, you need to work all the harder. Tell everyone it's there. Get them to come and see; increase your audience and boost your traffic.

Get the word out there.

When you're done, you can breathe easier. The hard work is done. Now all you need to do is to maintain it; generate new content, revise the existing and keep it fresh.

Fingers crossed.

17th November 2019