November 20 2012 10 Reasons Why You Should Redesign Your Website in 2013 You get one chance to make a first impression. Head & Shoulders shampoo was right. Even if you don’t have dandruff, your business’s website is the first impression you make on many people. If you don’t capture their attention in a positive way, they’ll quickly move on. Your analytics don’t lie. Your analytics show the overwhelming majority of your audience doesn’t click past the homepage. Trust that. It’s time to reorganize and prioritize content to provide your audience a more complete and valuable site experience. Content is king and yours is dethroned. Creating content that is engaging, relevant, useful and sharable is vital to connecting with your audience. Does your audience understand what you are saying? Are you making it easy to find information? Maybe a blog makes sense for your business. Give people good information and they will return. You have content management system envy. Either you don’t have a content management system and are struggling to maintain your site or you have an older CMS that is difficult to use. There are great, intuitive CMSs out there. Explore why they are a no-brainer investment for your business. Your Google presence is lackluster. Nearly 9 out of 10 consumers search for products or services online. Your competitors are ranking higher than you. You have an opportunity to lead the pack in natural search. You need a good SEO strategy that accompanies a new site. Your site works great…on IE 6. Your audience likely is viewing your site on various devices…laptops, tablets and smartphones. But your site caters to PCs. Invest in responsive design so you can adapt your site to current and future devices. Your site looks like an online brochure. Give them more. Your audience is discerning. They expect a site with high functionality. Investing in the latest back-end technology can give your company and web presence an advantage over your competition. Integrate with third-party tools, connect your site’s back end with your business processes, or develop apps that can support your business or marketing goals. Your campaigns aren’t integrated. Your website should be the hub of your branding and marketing plan. Does your website enable you to easily integrate your offline and online campaigns? Can you quickly add and edit promotions and integrate them with your social media platforms? If not, it’s time to look holistically at your campaigns. Your social media plan is antisocial. People visit social networks every 1 of 6 minutes they spend online. Is your social media presence effectively integrated with your site? You need to include social sharing links on your site; tout your presence on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+; and create valuable content that people will want to share and discuss. Your site should be customized for your business. Your business isn’t based on a template, so neither should your site. Your website enables you to separate yourself from the crowd, communicate with your audience, position your brand, and be unique. If your site doesn’t support that, you’re shortchanging yourself. If you read this and realized it’s time you do something about your website in 2013, contact ZAG Interactive and let us know how we can help. posted by ZAG Interactive Staff Writer Share this article ZAG Interactive is a full-service digital agency in Glastonbury, CT, offering website design, development, marketing and digital strategy to clients nationwide. See current job openings.