Revisit: When is it Time to Update Your B2B Website?

by | Dec 17, 2021 | Blog

We are revisiting one of our most popular blogs from 2020; updating your B2B website. Many B2Bs ignore their websites, focusing instead on other aspects of their business. However, your website is your business card. It needs regular updates and will tell you how to know if it’s time to rework your site with this popular blog from 2020 – timeless as we enter 2022.

Your website is not static, it needs to be updated as your business evolves, but how do you know when it’s time to make that investment?

Your B2B website is one of your most important business tools. While you might still rely on networking, tradeshows, and a good reputation to secure deals, the truth is that without a worthy online presence, you are not likely to expand your business.

If you have taken the time to build a site with expert architecture, high-quality content, and a clear brand message, it might be tempting to simply add blogs and avoid touching anything else. Keeping your social media pages up-to-date and adding banners to showcase special offers might seem like enough to keep your website fresh. After all, you are appealing to other professionals, not trying to sell in a saturated market.

However, that is not true. B2B providers are increasingly leaning towards a B2C model of marketing, and there is some research to suggest the B2B customer journey is not the logical path that has been paved for easy negotiations of complex deals. B2B customers are just average people who feel motivated by their emotions when buying, just like B2C customers, so taking a closer look at how to remodel your marketing in that style is important for securing sales.

So when is it time to update your B2B website and what elements should you focus on?

A Clear Message

Take a quick look at some B2B websites and you’ll see that many of them fail to answer one simple question; what do you do?

From content filled with jargon to mission statements that are simply a string of adverbs, too many B2B websites fail to clarify their goals and clearly state what pain points they are solving for customers.

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If your mission statement is unclear, or your brand awareness campaign is ramping up.

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Provide clear answers in plain speech that is accessible to your audience. While including some industry jargon might be appropriate, remember that usually, such language sounds pretentious and exclusive.

Content Updates

While you might blog, vlog, tweet, or TikTok every day, website content tends to remain untouched – some websites fail to update their content for years. When you neglect the bones (your website) the body (social media) has to work twice as hard in a space that B2B is still navigating.

Keeping your website fresh does not require a weekly overhaul. It doesn’t even require a complete overhaul. What it does need is some regular TLC to ensure that your content is relevant.

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A change of leadership, an additional service or product, or a new territory expansion are all opportune times to update your website content. This includes text and images. Of course, if you are rebranding your B2B company, your website overhaul would be a foundation stone of such a venture.

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Content updates should provide new information, not just repackaging.

Your CTA has been Disconnected

‘Contact us’ is a thing of the past, and if you still have this button displayed on your landing page, aggressively blocking visitors from researching your business, you are losing potential leads.

The CTA tactics of the past meant that the business demanded prospects provide their details to qualify as a potential lead, and the business would only engage with the audience if that exchange of information was made. People who are conducting research find this archaic approach to business interactions frustrating, and they will happily find another website that is transparent.

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If your website is still demanding data for access to basic information about your products or services, it is time to update by adding CTAs that offer attractive customer engagement opportunities.

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Include CTAs such as ‘download here free’ offering samples or reports. Provide people with a ‘thank you’ such as ‘sign up for our monthly newsletter’ or ‘click here for our quiz to find the perfect product for you’. Make the initial stages of your sales process more interactive and exploratory for your potential lead, rather than trying to control them from the moment they show interest in your product.

Build lots of landing pages and forms

Landing pages are crucial and without them, generating inbound leads is considerably more difficult. The sole purpose of a landing page is to drive conversions.

To use them effectively, you can advertise a specific content offer, product, or service which can only be accessed by landing page visitors who have filed in a form. It is one further step than a basic CTA that asks for an email address or contact number. Your landing page access is an exchange – the potential lead tells you what they want and in exchange, you give them a free trial or in-depth report or other assets.

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Using landing pages and forms is really helpful when entering a new market as it will give you a gauge for what potential customers in that market are looking for.

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This technique allows you to nurture more qualified leads and helps you understand where potential leads are in the customer journey.

Make it Modern and Appealing

If it looks dated, clunky and unkept, visitors will assume that your B2B operation is struggling, dated, or no longer operational. It is important that you maintain your websites’ content, navigation, and user experience every few years.

Your website is part of your brand, and without it, you will struggle to connect with an audience. Design fashions do change, and you need to be willing to change your website with fashions.

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If you have neon colors, flashing boxes, and 15 tabs at the top of your home page, it is time to rethink your design. There are elements of website design that come in and out of fashion, for example, navigation methods have evolved even in the past two years from dropdowns to hamburger menu.

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A sleek and modern design that is easy to navigate and appealing to explore will entice potential customers, so hire a professional who understands design to align your website, brand, and products on a user-friendly website.

Make it Mobile

Your B2B website needs to be optimized for desktop and mobile to retain visitors. If a visitor cannot jump between devices to research your business, they will move on to one of your competitors who has taken the time to consider the customer journey.

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If your website is not mobile or device compatible, making it so needs to be your top marketing priority.

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Offering a streamlined, omnichannel experience is just expected. If a potential client cannot successfully jump from mobile to desktop to tablet without frustration, they are not likely to trust you as a service or product provider, because this smooth experience has become so ‘basic’ in terms of the customer journey that people don’t even notice until it doesn’t work.