Have you ever dreaded sending someone to your website because it was old and outdated? Or had a new employee or customer cringe when they opened your site?

You’re not alone. 

Many of us feel like once we have our website up and running, we can check it off our to-do list and forget about it. However, that is not the case.

Websites have to be kept up to date to be effective. And if it’s been a long time since you updated your small business’s website, it may be time to rebuild it entirely. 

But don’t worry — a modern website building tool makes the process fairly simple. If you’re short on website know-how and time and you need something done fast, then you can have someone build your website for you.

In this article, I’m going to share the story of a real small business called Sweet Tomatoes Pizza.  Owner Hedy Jarras knew she needed a new website, but was busy with her business’s day-to-day operations, so she called on our professional services team to get the job done.

Why rebuild your website?

If you’re like many small business owners, you may have thought about updating your website, but you may not know where to start. Perhaps you feel it is too difficult of a task to take on by yourself, you don’t have the time, or you don’t have the skills.

Even still, there are several reasons you may need to rebuild your website.

• The existing site isn’t mobile-responsive
• Your are either rebranding or revamping your current brand
• The website is difficult to navigate
• You can’t easily maintain it yourself

While these are the obvious reasons you might want to rebuild your website, many little things can also indicate it’s time to rebuild your site.

To see if your site needs a make-over, do a website checkup and keep a lookout for the following cringe-worthy issues:

• Images that are dull, unappealing, or don’t accurately reflect the brand or product(s)
• Content that is inconsistent, incorrect, misleading, or just plain missing
• Links that are missing or broken

These issues are exactly what Hedy was confronted with when she reviewed the site for her business, Sweet Tomatoes Pizza.

Hedy’s website needed to be updated and her staff, and customers, let her know it.

Like most of us, however, Hedy was too busy running her business to deal with an outdated website. And while pushing his issue to the backburner worked fine for her for quite some time, the coronavirus pandemic changed that. 

Timing is everything

When the pandemic started to spread throughout the U.S., Hedy saw a surge in traffic to her website with people placing online orders. That surge caused Hedy to realize that she shouldn’t, and couldn’t, put off rebuilding her site any longer.

“People love pizza. They needed comfort food and wanted to support local… It was definitely time for a new website.”

– Hedy Jarras

For Hedy, updating her website wasn’t just about business — it was also about lifting spirits. Hedy wanted to give visitors to her website, “something new and fresh.”

The only problem she had now was figuring out not only how to find the time to rebuild her website but also figuring out just how to go about it.

When you don’t have the time

In the brief conversation that I had with Hedy, I found her to be a very busy, vibrant, energetic individual. It was clear to me that she has a lot on her plate, takes a lot of pride in the food she serves, and loves her employees like family. 

“At the end of the day, we’re a simple operation… and I don’t need an over-the-top website. I need something that’s easy to navigate.”

– Hedy Jarras

Hedy needed a fresh, vibrant website that was easy to navigate, that she could quickly update on her own. The problem was, she didn’t know exactly how she was going to get that.

Enter Constant Contact.

Rebuilding a website with Constant Contact

Like with many small business owners, to say that Hedy is a multi-tasker would be an understatement. During the few moments that I was able to speak with her, Hedy placed an order for supplies, answered numerous questions from her staff, responded to my interview questions, took a phone call, and handled at least one kitchen ‘emergency’. 

Knowing that she didn’t have the time to rebuild her website herself, Hedy enlisted Constant Contact’s Professional Services team for help. And Constant Contact Design Specialist, Malia Durham, was assigned to the Sweet Tomatoes Pizza project. 

When I asked Malia about her first impressions of sweettomatoespizza.com, she agreed with Hedy and her employees’ assessment. “It was outdated, yes. [But it was more than that.] There was a disconnect between the website and Hedy and the business itself. The website didn’t reflect the light and fun pizza place that it is.”

Malia was talking about branding and to her, it was imperative to capture the feel (and brand) of the restaurant on the website. And that’s what she got to work on right away.

The process

According to Malia, the process of getting a new website built by Constant Contact is, “really easy.” 

First, you fill out a form for a free consultation.

Once we receive the completed form, a member of our team reaches out to you to discuss what you’re looking for and what we can help you with. After the consultation is completed and a contract is signed, our Design Specialist gets to work, creating the first draft of your new website.

That’s it. It’s that simple.

“Awesome!”

That’s what Hedy had said when she looked at the first draft of her new website and realized that she could quickly and easily update her new site herself. 

Using Constant Contact’s tools, including the website builder and inline and pop-up sign-up forms, Malia was able to give Hedy the website she not only needed but wanted. 

Introducing the new sweetomatoespizza.com!

More than just a new website

And as part of the website redesign package, Malia also created an email template — that’s on-brand — which Hedy can use for all of her email marketing campaigns. 

Constant Contact’s online marketing platform has the capability to create, post, and monitor not only Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn social posts but Facebook, Instagram and Google ads as well. That means Hedy can do all of her online marketing in one place — which can help her to stay on-brand with all of her online marketing efforts.

A website to be proud of

By working with Constant Contact, Hedy got the website she needed, when she needed it. Now she has a completely new website that she, and her employees, can be proud of —  a website that checks all of the ‘smarter choice’ boxes. 

Hedy’s new site is:

• Mobile-responsive
• On-brand
• Easy to navigate
• Easily maintained and updated by Hedy herself

• Packed with (customer supplied) images that are bright and appealing, which accurately reflect the products themselves
• Filled with (customer supplied) content that is consistent and correct
• Complete with links that are appropriate, consistent, and always work properly

Do you need a new website or branded email template?

If you’re like Hedy and think you might need some professional help with your online marketing, check out our marketing services today.

The post Is it Time to Rebuild Your Website?: Sweet Tomatoes Pizza appeared first on Constant Contact.