Does Your Website Give You Freedom?
Confession time! I honestly didn’t think I was going to get this months blog post out, yet here I am an hour before my own personal deadline at the keyboard making it happen. It isn’t so much inspiration this morning that has me here as it is a need to share. You see the last few weeks have been crazy, and I have been in the center of tech hell. (Yes even technical people hate technology sometimes.)
When you’re in the middle of struggles its hard to remember sometimes the good that you are actually accomplishing. Thankfully a friend and client helped me realize that last week when she told me, “You have given me so much freedom by taking care of my website. Freedom to focus on what I do best.”
So today I thought I would share a little bit about that freedom a good web designer offers.
Design Phase Freedom
During the design phase of your new website a good designer is going to make sure that your website actually works for you. I strive to make my websites work as hard as the brilliant people they support. I see my websites as a member of the team who is always on call ready to share information with customers and potential customers 24/7. In fact, one of my clients calls her website her administrative assistant.
A well done website is going to make contacting you as easy as clicking a button – one time – not a maze of clicks to get to a generic contact. It will have auto-responses built in so when a website visitor reaches out they will know their message has been received. And if scheduling is part of your process the auto-responses will cover confirmation, reminders and a post meeting thank you.
It will also make it very clear what you do and how you support your customers, and can even begin establishing boundaries with the customers looking to work with you.
Pre-launch Freedom
Most web designers, those worth what they charge at least, are more than just designers. They are familiar with the technology behind the website, and realize that not all technology is created equal. Some of this technology is built on mediocre tech and charge high prices.
As a web designer I personally want to make sure that my clients new websites are built on the best foundation possible which often translates to changing hosting and sometimes even the domain registrar.
This can be a complicated task that takes days to do, and yes I realize it SHOULD be easy. The trouble is not every hosting platform makes it easy for you to find what you need. They also do not always tell you what you need to do. Add in the geek-speak and the average entrepreneur can easily get lost in a sea of tech.
Post-Launch Freedom
Once your website is launched, the work does not come to a halt. All websites need regular tender loving care and nurturing, especially if you want the website to grow along side of your business at it grows.
Post-Launch support looks different for every web designer, so I am simply going to share with you what I do to support my clients.
Monthly Strategy Calls
Our businesses are always shifting, changing and growing, which means our website should as well. Which is why I offer monthly strategy calls to all of my clients post launch so that we can talk about what is happening in the business and how we can best reflect this onto the pages of their website. The strategy calls not only help them market what is new in the business, but also prolongs the life of the website significantly granting my clients both time and money saving freedom.
Security Updates and Monitoring
Websites are going to need updates, just as all technology does, but it takes time. If you have a WordPress site there is the time it takes to install and test each update, which is often a weekly task. And if you have a Squarespace website, you may not have to do any updating but Squarespace does, so making sure those updates did not cause issues is something to monitor.
And websites go down. Hopefully for short periods of time but it happens. Which is why I have monitoring software in place to alert me with in 60 seconds if a clients website goes down.
This grants my clients all kinds of freedom with their time because they do not have to do a thing to make sure their website is secure and running smoothly.
A Quick and Easy Website Refresh
As time goes on the fresh new gorgeous website is going to start looking a little tired and dated. Which is why I use software that makes it easy to give my websites a refresh creating a whole new look for the website, without actually having to start over from scratch building a whole new website. This refresh can often be done in a matter of hours, and saves my clients time and money.
Do you have freedom with your website?
These are just a few reasons why you need someone in your corner taking care of your website. Someone who can give you the freedom you need to do what you do best in building your business. If you feel I may be the person who can give you the freedom you need, schedule a consult. I’d love to tell you more!