Good work.
You’re about to send someone your website link. But before you do, you add a little warning.
“Don’t judge the website. It needs updating.”
Maybe you’ve said that. Maybe you’ve thought it and sent the link anyway. Or maybe you’ve avoided sending it altogether.
If that sounds familiar, I think it’s worth paying attention to.
You know the work you do. You care about your customers. But somewhere between your actual business and what people see online, something doesn’t quite match anymore.
I’d want to find out what that something is. Because “I don’t like my website” is a feeling. “Those photos are old, and we don’t even offer that service anymore” gives us somewhere to start.
What are you apologizing for?
Open your website and have a look. What’s the first thing you feel you need to explain?
Maybe the pictures are from a version of your business you barely recognize. The team has changed. The work has changed. Your website apparently didn’t get the memo.
Maybe it looks okay, but the words don’t sound like you. They could belong to just about anybody. You’re warm and easy to talk to, yet your homepage reads like a company policy.
Or maybe the design feels tired. The type is hard to read, the page gets awkward on your phone, or the whole thing feels a little homemade compared with the care you put into your work.
That matters, too. I want a website to be clear and useful, and I also want you to feel good about how your business looks. You’re the one putting your name on it.
Try finishing this sentence: “I’d feel better sending someone here if…” Be specific. You don’t need to know how to fix it yet.
The business may have moved on without the website
Think about how much can change after a website goes live. You add a service. You get better photos. You find a clearer way to explain what you do. You start working with different kinds of customers.
Those changes can happen a little at a time. Then one day you look at the website and think, “Wait a minute. That’s not really us anymore.”
Imagine a cleaning company that now focuses on regular office cleaning. The website still leads with a family relaxing in a spotless living room and a headline about getting your weekends back.
That may have made sense before. Today, an office manager needs to know whether the company cleans workplaces, where it works and how to ask about a regular schedule.
A headline such as “Regular office cleaning for businesses in [your service area]” would give that person a clearer starting point. Add a real photo of the team or its work and an “Ask about office cleaning” button, and the pieces start telling the same story.
Your business might need a similar update. The question is what you want the website to say about you today.
You can make a start without rebuilding everything
I wouldn’t jump straight from “this bothers me” to “we have to tear it all down.” First, I’d look at what’s causing the discomfort.
An old team photo, a missing service or a confusing button may be a straightforward update. If the words, design and pages all reflect a business you’ve outgrown, we may need to plan a website redesign.
Here’s a simple way to sort it out. Pick the page you’d normally send to a potential customer. Look at it on your phone and make three short notes.
- What’s out of date? Look for old team details, services, photos, contact information or examples of your work.
- What needs explaining? Notice where you’d have to add, “What we actually do is…” or “That’s not quite what we mean.”
- What’s hard to use? Follow the contact link or main button. Can someone find the next step and take it comfortably?
You don’t have to turn this into a twenty-page report. A few notes or screenshots are plenty. Circle the one thing you’d most like to stop apologizing for. That’s your first conversation with whoever helps you with the site.
If the opening message is the sticking point, my billboard article takes a closer look at how the headline, picture and button can work together.
Give your social profiles a quick look, too
The same feeling can crop up when you send someone to LinkedIn, Facebook or Instagram. An old profile photo. A description that leaves out half of what you now do. A website link that takes people somewhere unexpected.
I’ve been working on my own website and social profiles, so this is on my mind, too. I want people to see the website work, but also understand that I help with SEO and ongoing marketing. The introduction needs to reflect the work.
Your profiles don’t all have to look identical. They should give someone a familiar picture of the same business. A current photo, a clear description and a useful link are a good place to start.
You don’t have to figure out every detail yourself
You might know exactly what bothers you and still have no idea what the new headline should say, which photo to choose or how the page should look.
That’s a perfectly good place to begin.
When we work together, I want to learn about your business, the people you help and what you’d like the website to do. From there, I can take the lead on the words and design. You bring the knowledge of your business; I help bring the introduction together.
And as the business changes, we can talk about what needs to change on the website and where ongoing marketing could help. The site should stay part of the business you’re building.
Next time, send the link without the warning
That’s what I’d like for you. A website you’re happy to send someone to. One that feels like your business, explains the help you offer and makes the next step easy.
It doesn’t have to win a design award before you can share it. But if you keep making the same excuse every time, maybe that’s your moment to say, “Okay. Let’s do something about this.”
Start with the thing that makes you hesitate.
If you’d like to see how I’d bring a fresh opening together for your business, you can request a free homepage preview. And if you’d like to get to know the person you’d be working with first, come meet Dave.
I’d like your next introduction to start with “Here’s our website.” No little warning needed.
