Reopening for business - is your website ready?

23/6/2021

 

With the country slowly and cautiously opening up, now is the time to get a plan in place for updating your website and showing your customers you are ‘open for business’.

In fact, you may not have closed. Many companies have been rushed off their feet during the pandemic, but some of us have experienced a slow down which has made a huge dent in our finances and, perhaps, our confidence. Now we need to put our best foot forward.

When visiting your premises, customers want to feel reassured that you have safety measure in place and there will no doubt be changes to the way you operate. Letting your customers know about this will set the tone for your reopening. 

 

 

 

 

Here are some suggestions for your online presence:

 

• A warm welcoming opening message on your home page with details of your opening hours and a link to more detailed information. Depending on the layout of your page, you may need to ask your web designer to create an additional space for Covid-19, a banner or a pop up.
   
• Update your FAQs page. If you don't have one, now may be a good time to set this up.
   
• Get a newsletter out to your mailing list with details of your new opening hours and guidelines for visiting your store or premises: whether an appointment is necessary and, if so, likely waiting times.
   
• Update your blog and social media pages. Your way of operating is likely to change during the weeks and months ahead so this is a quick and easy way to alert customers to these changes as things evolve.
   
• Use social media to post up cheery and welcoming photos of your staff and store/office. 
   
• Make sure your Google My Business page has updated opening hours too. This is often overlooked and then there is a discrepancy between this and the information on your website.
   
• Short welcome videos can really make an impact ... many of us are dying for some in-store interaction.
   
• If you sell online and you are unable to get hold of certain products remove them or make it clear what the waiting time is. Some industries have been hit very hard due to lack of components which has had a knock on effect for retailers. Be upfront about this in order not to disappoint. Set up a ‘let me know when this product is available’ button.
   
• If your services have changed or been pared down make sure this is reflected on your website. Save all the old content so you can easily resinstate it then the time comes.
   
• Check your ‘thank you’ pages and automated emails to reflect any changes to delivery time or service.
   
• Freshen up your site with some new photos. It's amazing what a difference this makes.

We haven't gone away and we're always happy to offer advice so give us a call on 01223 873349 or email Jane at  info@catfishwebdesign.com