First of all, a website is a large investment. We all get that. But it’s one that in this day in age is required, especially if you’re ever going to transact anything, in any business, period.

Now that we’ve got that straight, you know you need a new website. Why? Because it’s likely yours is outdated. You can’t update it on your own. You still have your Blogger account, but that doesn’t work because Blogger receives the juice from your writing, not you.

So, yes, you need a website that you can update on your own, receive traffic and juice from, reach out to and connect with customers on, and the rest. One thing you don’t need though is in trying to save a buck, hiring a freelancer you’ve never worked with, doesn’t have a support team and may or may not be around when you need them to develop your site further. Or to answer your questions when you get stuck.

You don’t need someone who disappears overnight. Or someone who is just “testing the waters” with WordPress, jumping onto the bandwagon. And when it comes down to it, they don’t know how to build an entire custom website with WordPress. Yes, it happens, quite frequently. And money is lost, relationships go south and small businesses get set back in their quest to update their old website by going out on a limb with a WordPress person.

Your website should be an online marketing tool.

Your website should be dynamic and easy to update. It should be secure and set up correctly for on-page SEO. Your folders shouldn’t be loaded in a thousand different files. You shouldn’t use default urls. And your page titles shouldn’t be called something totally irrelevant, unless you’re just spending money on your website for sport and don’t actually intend to convert anyone from it. You shouldn’t be hosted with a small host insufficiently equipped to load a secure, custom WordPress website. And, you shouldn’t, I repeat you should not, run 150 plugins to accomplish something that could be custom coded because the person who’s building your website doesn’t know the mistakes to avoid or any other way.

WordPress is a simple and clean web platform that any business can master, once the website is built correctly with clean and custom code.

WordPress began as a blogging platform. So, once your new website is up, your company’s blog will be integrated into your site. This means you should use it. But don’t use it to write like you’re a machine; use it to engage with people. If you haven’t started blogging, consider starting. You should be blogging, even if you’re in a traditional industry. There are countless reasons why and very few as to why not.

Once you’ve come to the conclusion that you’re ready for a new web design, and you’d like to avoid the no no’s I’ve listed, give us a call. We’ve been building custom WordPress websites for years. We’ve brought on the developers talented enough to do so and the creative teams to guide them through the design process. Plus we’re a fun group of Oregon and Santa Barbara folks. And when you need us now, tomorrow or five years down the road, we’ll still be here.

Have fun out there,
Christina, Creative Director. Savy Agency