Anyone who wants to start a website today will have no trouble in doing so. The tools to design, build, and even market and host a website are now widely and freely available to anyone who wants them. However, while anyone who wants to build a website can now do so with ease, building a successful website, and maintaining that success, is not easy to do.
Stagnation
Signs that your website might be stagnating and, therefore, in need of some love and attention, can include a drop in visitor numbers, negative feedback from visitors, or advertisers pulling out or seeking a reduced rate. If your website is maintaining its current popularity but is not bringing in many new regulars, this is also usually a sign that some kind of renovation is in order.
Get Some Feedback
Hopefully, even if your website has been neglected a little bit, you will still have enough loyal fans and followers to offer you feedback. Make sure that you find out from these people what they think isn’t working, as well as which elements are keeping them coming back for more.
There are a number of ways that you can get feedback from your customers. You will need to decide which method is the best for you, and how you can appropriately handle the data after you have received it.
Add Community Features
Even a website that is written with passion can seem impersonal and dispassionate. Adding even some basic social features to your website will give your existing users a good reason to stick around. Meanwhile, new users who would otherwise have given your website a pass could potentially be enticed by the new community and social features.
Whether it is a basic chat room, or a more advanced and feature-rich message board, any community or social features that you can add to your service will give you something else to set you apart from the competition.
Have a look at Programering for an example of the form that your community features might take.
Give it a Facelift
You must always be careful when you are considering giving your website a complete redesign. After all, you don’t want to end up in a position where your new website isn’t as effective as the old one. A redesign can give your website a new aesthetic, but it also gives you the chance to fix any other outstanding issues you might have with it.
Plan your website’s redesign out in detail beforehand. It is always worth running your ideas by a web developer if you aren’t one yourself, and beta testing your new look before going live.
Starting a website is difficult and at times a disheartening, journey. However, the rewards that are awaiting those who take the plunge, and who are willing to go the extra mile for their website, make it worth the struggle. If you feel that your website is starting to stagnate and is in desperate need of a shot in the arm, it is up to you to work out what is missing, and how you can provide it.
