Water the flowers of your website regularly!
What’s the difference between a garden and a website? In our analogy, not much…
In this newsletter, we want to explain how a website is a living and breathing asset that must be cared for and refreshed often. And the best way to do that is to draw comparisons between a garden and your website. They’re more similar than you think.
If you’ve been meaning to update your website and keep putting it off, don’t delay any longer. You could be missing out on both clients and prospects by waiting. The WEBPRO team are always here to help refresh your website with content, images and more.
Websites and gardens provide the first impression
A front garden gives the first impression of a property. It adds kerb appeal and sets the mood for the rest of the home.
The same can be said about websites.
A website is typically the first impression a potential client will get of your business and its brand, especially for online only businesses. If your website doesn’t look cared for and isn’t engaging, they might bounce straight off your website and onto a competitor’s site that does give a fantastic first impression.
They both take time, dedication and care to grow
Excellent websites can be developed in just a few weeks in the same way a garden can be planted with new plants and maintained in a similar timeframe. But growing those plants, and a website, into something special takes much longer.
You need to be patient and dedicated to caring for the garden, or website. In either of these cases, you cannot expect to get the best results overnight. But by perseverance and constant attention to detail, you can grow your garden, or website, into what you envision it to be.
Both need small regular changes to make a big difference
When we talk about maintenance and ongoing care, we don’t necessarily mean you need to make big changes. Big and costly changes are only needed when you have neglected your garden, or website.
What we mean by ongoing changes is usually something small, such as adding a new blog or updating your ‘about’ information after a change, a bit like you would water the flowers of your garden. Every now and then, you might upgrade your visuals or add a video, just like you might introduce a new plant species.
Refreshing your content over time doesn’t need to be a huge task. Frequent smaller changes make a big enough impact. This will be beneficial for your SEO and help to increase visitors to your website. Google loves a website that keeps its content fresh and lively.
Changes to your garden, or website, should be based on research
Would you water every plant in your garden twice per week? If you’re a good gardener, you know that would be a mistake. Some plants need to be watered more often than others, and by not researching which plant needs what type of care, you could damage the garden.
The same logic applies to website updates and refreshing content. You don’t just add content for the sake of an update – it must be researched.
SEO audits and key phrase research can identify what type of things your target audience is searching for online. If a regulation change has caused a surge of Google queries about that change, you can use the research to create new content – possibly a blog – about the topic. Therefore, your change isn’t just a refresh, but it's purposeful with an end result in mind.
Gardens, and websites, are both scaled relevantly
Last but not least, there are similarities between the way a garden and website are scaled. A garden is usually grown in proportion to the size of a property. Few people have small houses and 50 acres. And just as few people have mansions with a single allotment.
This is seen in website design too, although not exclusively. You can refresh your website by adding pages as your business grows. If you’ve started a new service or are operating in another area, you might want to add pages to reflect this and to inform your clients about this change. But remember, websites are more likely to be scalable when they are built using semi-bespoke templates or completely bespoke designs, both of which we can help with at WEBPRO.
Recap: If you plant and water your garden once, it will look fantastic for a week or three. But if you fail to keep up with your gardening, it will soon become unappealing and eventually die. The same logic can be applied to your website. You must be willing to make ongoing changes and refresh your website over time to keep it looking great, SEO-optimised and profitable. This can be achieved by updating content, adding articles and web pages, and making changes based on industry changes and research.
P.S. If you are unsure if your website needs updating or what to update it with, don’t hesitate to contact the WEBPRO experts for advice.
