I remember reading Mary Shelley‘s Frankenstein. The thought of a human being stitched together from different parts of other humans fascinated me. I wasn’t so much into the story after though I remember wondering why the monster threw the little girl into the water. But using the lightening storm to jump start the monster’s heart? How cool is that!? Very. But that’s not what this post is about. Frankenstein works well as an analogy I’d like to share.
There is no today. There is only this moment.
The web is very mercurial. Change happens quickly. Form and function are born, mutate, blend, split, and mix or die. It never ceases. What is state-of-the-art today begins to fall behind the moment we publish it. The online world is no longer just a way to get information or sell something. It’s a gigantic community with distinct neighborhoods, business sectors, and even gangs and seedy streets.
We work on the web, we chat and we relax there. The communities we sell to and serve are there and they expect us to keep up with the tools they’ve come to rely on to do business, communicate, and relax with. And they expect our websites to do the same.
Today it’s so much easier – especially with WordPress – to change things around and try something new that evolution has become a required part of doing business. As a small business owner, I know it’s not easy to embrace this idea – where do you find the time? My old business site 7th Pixel is a perfect example. Building websites for clients is no longer my main gig but I haven’t gotten around to updating that site to let people know and it shows. Traffic has dropped off significantly and the bounce rates have gone way up. People are looking at the websites of other developers and seeing how fresh they look and how they embrace the latest technologies like big image sliders and larger, more open designs. Then they look at my site. 7th Pixel is old and staid and that’s not what they want. In my case, 7th Pixel is no longer my main revenue stream (but I should update it and will). But what about your website?
Build. Tear apart. Rebuild.
WordPress websites are built out of pieces and parts just like the monster (okay, I’m going to call him Frankenstein because that’s how everyone knows the monster). There is an underlying engine – a tool – that runs everything and on top of that a theme – the visual presentation. A WordPress website gives us an easy way to add content to our websites and content is the life blood.
Since the dawn of time, we’ve been perfectionists, always seeking to improve our ability to communicate through words, visual messages, and touch. And there has always been a segment of the population that resists change. This is true when it comes to websites. Some of us think of our websites are durable goods that should last for years. That used to be true 10 years ago but isn’t anymore. Here are two darn good reasons not to wait so long:
- Customers expect you to keep up
- It’s ridiculously easy to keep up
Small businesses have the advantage of being flexible and agile. Your website should be the same. Add something new and try it out. Add a newsletter signup from MailChimp or Yoast’s SEO for WordPress Plugin. Sure, there is a learning curve to the process but once you master it, there is no limit to what you can achieve with your website. Seriously. Be agile and mercurial.
Of course, as is the nature of adding bits and pieces overtime, you’ll end up with something that looks like it’s been patched together. SO, tear it apart and rebuild it, refine it, improve it. This is what we do as small businesses. There is no reason not to keep changing and trying something new to meet the immediate need or goal. The tools we have now are so easy to use and have such power. Embrace them, use them, to bring the best content of your website to the front. Leverage WordPress and embrace your Frankenstein!