Lennart’s Blog

One thing is clear, it's amazing the amount of websites that contain old and outdated information. You know the ones that say "Last Updated: November 2005" at the bottom.

Not only that, many sites have broken links, navigation that makes your head spin and images that load so slow I can take a short nap while waiting for the home page to show up. Not to mention... Well, you get the idea.

Many years ago, when I spoke with potential new clients I was sometimes told "we already have a website, it's not very good but...".  My answer at the time was "well, we can help you look GREAT, but I am glad that you at least have a website..."

I don't say that anymore and here's why.

If your website does not truly reflect your company or organization you are probably better off NOT having a website at all. Sure, if your company answers the phone with a cheerful "What!" or if you go to work in your pajamas a lousy website is probably the least of your problems. However, for most of us we like to look our best. Simply put, it's the best thing for our business.

If your website does not make you look your best my advice these days are "take it down!" and, I might add, "don't put it back up until you are ready to look your very best". It's better to have one page site that you can be proud of than hundred pages that the thought of anyone looking at makes you cringe.

Recently my company Webstix, a Madison, Wisconsin website firm, launched a free, no obligation 20-point website analysis. If you are interested you can request an analysis of your website here:

http://www.webstix.com/website-redesign.html

However, I guess another way for an do-it-yourself kind of (free, very quick) website analysis is to ask yourself the question:

“if my website was a shirt, would I wear it to a meeting with a client?”

If the answer is anything but “Yes, you bet I would!” your website probably need some help.

So, this is just to say "remember, you only have one chance to make a first impression".

Your website is often the FIRST PLACE where many of your potential clients meet you and your company for the first time.

Make it count!

I recently came across this helpful article from the Practical Ecommerce website about PCI compliance. Many of our customers in Madison, WI and around the country have questions about PCI compliance and here are some good answers, including links to more information. 

We can't stress enough the importance of keeping your data secure - online and offline. The hours of work to restore a website that has been hacked are many, and the cost can easily be thousands of dollars. It's important to make sure your web site or e-commerce shopping cart is using the most recent version and that all patches and updates have been applied. The cost of staying up to date, and thus avoiding hacks and data theft, is much less than the cost of having to restore a hacked website and the cost of unhappy customers.