Why Your First Quarter in 2021 Should Include a Website Update

January 12, 2021

By any reasonable measurement, and judging from real-world observations, it’s clear that an update to your business website may be among the most important things you do to start 2021. It has been for countless clients of ours in the past, and it has never been more important than it is this year. The current disruption in the digital landscape and the arrival of the new year both mean that it’s the right time to start. Today, we’d like to show you how web traffic has grown exponentially over the past year, why right now is the best time to make your plans and start updating, and what we can do to help you get the most of it all.

Real-World Proof – Explosive Digital Growth

With quarantines, lockdowns, and other barriers to physical shopping placed in response to the COVID pandemic, consumers have flocked to online spaces. This has caused, according to Shopify in their 2021 ecommerce report, years worth of ecommerce growth to occur over the course of 2020. Where one year ago people may have been out driving, looking at billboards, picking up newspapers and magazines, and visiting physical stores – they’re not anymore, they’re moving online to collect information about brands and to make their purchases.

It’s proven out in the behavior of the largest retailers as well. According to the most reliable data available, retail merchants with an omnichannel strategy replaced more than 94% of physical POS purchases lost from the pandemic with online purchases. Optimizing across channels has proven to be the challenge for traditional businesses. Web presence, social media, email marketing, and digital advertising all play a huge part in connecting with customers online. All of that starts with an effective website.

Why Q1 is an Ideal Time to Start

January starts slow for many businesses, with both retail shopping and major purchases like cars and homes dialing back. It allows for planning, but it has also given us some insight into the year to come – allowing businesses to make intelligent, informed decisions about their direction. Rolling out a new or refreshed website around this time sets the stage for a business’s further growth throughout the year – giving them a strong base for when things start to heat up in later quarters.

Your Plan for an Incredible 2021

Start planning your 2021 website update with an assessment of your site’s performance – do you know how well it runs? Where do you rank with Google? Does your design put mobile users – more than 50% of all web users – first? We have three free checklists to guide you through the process, you can get started with this one for some sitewide triage.

Then, plan a redesign that will help you meet your goals. For example, Rearview Advertising client Rocklyn Homes came to us for a site redesign to improve conversion and sales – with our help, they saw a 300% increase in form leads, and a 70% increase in total sales. Working with a digital-first ROI-driven agency like us will help planning go smoothly, and you’ll have a site that works toward your goals.

2021 is the year you bring your website into the new decade, it has become a necessary step for your business to thrive. We help our clients reach their prospective customers right now – no matter where they are. Let’s talk about your goals for the new year, and what your digital strategy can do to help you reach them, call Rearview Advertising for a free consultation to start.