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Seven out of ten companies guilty of neglecting websites
September.2005As many as 70% of companies are compromising their image by failing to update their websites, according to research by Manchester based internet marketing consultancy, First Internet Marketing.
Although most companies are prepared to make the initial investment in a website - albeit grudgingly in come cases - First Internet reports that many are loathe to invest further resources towards keeping websites fresh and current. It warns that websites left to languish for months, and even years on end, run the risk of killing interest from potential clients rather than generating it.
Stephen Alexander, managing director at First Internet, explains: “It’s a fact that most people wishing to find out more about a company will head straight for their website. Yet too many businesses still regard their website as a necessary evil and overhead rather than as a profit centre.
“An out-of-date site looks thoroughly unprofessional. Since websites can be amended instantly, visitors expect them to be fully up-to-date, but our research shows that even some large organisations are leaving them to stagnate and missing out on prime, cost-effective opportunities to communicate with their target audience. Often, we’ll see that a company has taken the initiative of setting up a news page but than has failed to add anything new to it since 2003!
“Old website content can also be misleading and therefore irritating to visitors, for example when a location map hasn’t been updated and there have been changes to the route. With transactional websites, of-course, it’s pivotal that all products are correctly listed and that goods are in stock when the site states they are.
First Internet advises companies to consider investing in a content management system, which would allow them to update their site on a continuous basis, without incurring the expense of a third party. However, it stresses that one person must be assigned responsibility for updating the site as part of their job description.
Other examples of all too common ‘website sins’ identified by First Internet include: websites littered with spelling mistakes and other type errors; pages indefinitely titled ‘under construction’; sites featuring outmoded Flash effects that slow down access and annoy visitors; overly long text that forces the visitor to scroll down the page; and retail websites where the stock is an entire season out-of-date.
