Revamping your web site – it doesn’t have to all be done today

11th January 2023 | Posted in Web content

When you’ve got a website that’s grown over time as you’ve added new products and services, it can seem like a mammoth task to overhaul the content.

It’s not just about updating information and taking out what’s no longer needed.

It’s also about evaluating your style. Is the way your content is written consistent across the site? Does its tone of voice reflect the way you want people to think about your brand?

And importantly, does it provide the right audience with reasons to trust you and buy from you, today?

Easing in gently

This certainly can be quite a significant piece of work. But you don’t have to do it all at once. And you don’t even have to have a complete plan in advance.

What you can do is start with one section and try out your approaches. An experienced copywriter can advise as well as write, and work with you through some samples of current content to determine how and why you want to implement change.

There’s no need to rush at it. Getting the first few pages right will set out the landscape for the rest of the site. That’s not to say you can’t make changes later. As you work through you will as a team come up with even better ideas.

How it’s been working

I’ve been quietly revamping a website in partnership with a client for the last 12 months. We’ve talked as I’ve revised and created content that improves and modernises the client’s style. I aim to also make the content leaner and easier to understand. I work on the basis that if I don’t understand the message, there’s a good chance the readers won’t either.

We’ve kept our core purpose in mind – to sell – but the client and I are continuing to evolve how we approach the content. The first few pages we wrote as examples a year ago are significantly different to the style we are now working with, and we will probably re-visit those pages when we get to the end. But that’s all good, because we understand more about what is appealing to search engines and visitors, and how easy it is to buy.

Beyond the sales pages

It’s not just about the products and services.

We’ve looked at the pages that explain the company, and taken some time to make sure they reflect the purpose, the values and the personality of the business. We’re aiming to drive credibility and trust with real stories, history and feedback from past customers.

We’re also spending some time improving the FAQs. We’re not just offering a few general Q&As about cost and delivery. We’re giving every single product its own set of FAQs that reflect the sort of questions potential customers would be keen to ask.

Benefits of the gentle revamp

If you take a breath and tackle your website revisions over time, you can reap a wide range of benefits:

• take your time to evaluate changes and whether they’re achieving your goals
• better fit the revamp into your own schedule and that of your copywriter
• establish a long-term trusted relationship with your copywriter who will get to know your business well and be ready to add new content when you need it
• budget more easily if there’s a regular but not overwhelming fee to be paid every month
• tap other resources, such as web designers or the opinions of your sales team, giving them time to respond effectively