COVID Downtime: A New Website For an Old Client

I’ve been working with a client for nearly ten years, and we’ve taken his old website about as far as it will go. It was built in an ancient program, and we converted it to WordPress eight-plus years ago. There have been a few other Hail Marys along the way. 

Every year we think that this will be “The Year”

Every year we think we’ll be able to build a new website. But we keep getting bumped. The recession killed us. A couple of years ago we came in last behind a monster of an increase in workers comp insurance. Every business owner gets this. This year started out with a bang, but COVID has put a damper on all of our marketing initiatives. Yet we’re actually starting to work on a new website. I’m managing my expectations, but I’m hopeful that we’ll be able to start the new year with a sleek new site.

WordPress brought our site into the 21^st century and made it more accessible

These conversions can work, but the site has remained cantankerous with more than its share of workarounds. My client’s an electrical contractor, so we’ve kept the site updated with fresh contentand images as much as possible. We schedule photoshoots of new projects, and we generally show both before and after images. But it’s challenging. 

Contractors can show off their beautiful cabinets and hardwood floors, their new kitchens and baths. But an electrical contractor? Much more difficult. How do you showcase the wizardry of completely retrofitting the wiring for an older home to accommodate today’s electronics-crazed users so they won’t electrocute themselves? In the early days of LED lighting, I used to point out the unique undercounter or recessed lighting, but now LED is routine.

Look for WordPress themes that are SEO friendly

We’ve selected a WordPress theme that will give us a lot of exposure—today’s themes provide promo modules to highlight company features and/or events as users scroll down the page. They extend the homepage where you can use your keywords. There is a lot of SEO value in these themes. We’re writing case studies of residential and a commercial projects for which we also have good images. We’re rethinking navigation and paying attention to page speed—especially image size. We’ve removed a few old projects that are dated. 

• Images. Those great big graphics that are 5000 pixels? Easily resize to 2000 or less. I generally aim for around 1200. 
• Sliders. Use Less. Or useless. Research shows that people don’t stick around to watch your homepage slide show. Choose one great primary image. Swap it out when you want a change.
• Compress large images with Tinypng. 

My client’s site is 20 years old

I don’t know anyone right now who isn’t in the process of updating his/her website, including me! If COVID’s given you some downtime, this might be the time to start working on a new site. Contact Top of Mind Marketing. We’re writers and content marketing specialists.