Do I Need a New Website for my SCUBA Business?

Last week I mentioned Pro SCUBA Sites and have been sent dozens of emails asking if I think it would be a good fit. The people and situations are all different, but I’m able to break it down to a few simple questions you can ask yourself to see if you need a new website. I’ll share with you the questions, why the question is important and how the platform I now use can work for you.

As I stated last week, I received two free Pro SCUBA Sites accounts for being their primary beta tester. I get nothing if you sign up beyond the knowledge that I helped someone get a modern website.

Have you updated your site this month?

If you haven’t updated your site, you aren’t giving your customers or the search engines any reason to come back to your site. No eyeballs means less traffic means less business. The month is almost over, so if there hasn’t been a single update, time to get to work.

Pro SCUBA Sites is a blog, so it’s incredible easy to write something periodically. They also have a couple of cool features that make writing a post insanely easy, yet still valuable to your customers. I’ll show both of those off next week.

Have you refreshed your design in the last five years?

You may have had the best site built for you ten years ago, but technologies and tastes change. What may have been internet-beautiful ten years ago is probably being ridiculed on some dark internet forum right now.

I like Pro SCUBA sites because they are constantly adding new professional looking design options, so I can stay up to date easily.

Do you have social sharing options?

Your site should at least include Twitter and Facebook options due to the size of each networks potential audience. I would also recommend Google+ (it may take off someday) and Pinterest. This is easy traffic and exposure for your site and if you don’t have it, your customers can’t use it.

With my site, I can choose the floating bar you see on the left, a variety of sidebar social widgets and per-post social sharing links. Best of all, just a couple of clicks has me setup.

Can someone contact you directly from your site?

Not via phone or a link that pops up their email program, but from a simple form where they can send a message to you. It makes the job of a small business owner more difficult at times, but you must be available to your customers via the tools they use.

Pro SCUBA Sites has a great form builder that’s easy to use and can create contact forms in minutes.

Can you browse your site via a smartphone?

I’m not even going to be too demanding with this, but does your site work on mobile? Even if I have to scroll, can I click your links? Do your menus work? Are you avoiding Flash? If not, you’re missing out on a potential customer.

My site uses a responsive design so it appears similarly across all screen sizes. Most of the Pro SCUBA Sites themes are responsive, but there’s also a great mobile plugin available for those that aren’t.

While this is by no means a comprehensive site audit, these are some of the top questions I consider when someone asks me if I think they need a new web site.