A website lifespan is typically about 3-5 years depending on the business type. Some companies have to constantly update and refresh the design of their site to stay current, but for most small businesses you’ll find that 3 to 5 years is a good guide.
As technology and design trends change, websites have to keep up. As your business evolves over time, your objectives for your website may also shift. But more likely is the need to keep up with the competition to maintain your credibility.
When we started DGR Communications in 2006, we were one of just a few website designers in Gilbert, Arizona. We based our business on our decades of client service experience in website development, copywriting, and marketing. We didn’t drift into website design; we didn’t get laid off from a job in another industry and think “we’ll give website design a try.” This is what we’ve done for a living since the 90s.
When we’re designing a website, we often have to deal with the subjectivity of color; but there is more to color than meets the eye… so to speak! And be reassured that we do apply some science when considering the colors we suggest for your business.
No matter what your type of business, when you are looking to communicate with a group of people – your target audience – you need to have an understanding of the folks that you want to attract.
As a small business owner, I know my skill sets. I wouldn’t try to take an engine apart, fix your teeth or even do your taxes; I know my limitations and that’s important when running your own business. If you need a specialist skill set you hire the right person for the job – a mechanic, a dentist, an accountant, sometimes hopefully a copywriter or a web designer.
I’ve been thinking about the Ford pick-up truck commercials over the last few months, you know the ones with the Dennis Leary (Rescue Me) voice-overs. Here’s the latest one to refresh your memory, or if you live outside of the US/Canada and don’t get these trucks, to know what I’m talking about…
You might have recently seen the new Old Spice commercials featuring Isaiah Mustafa on TV. With the tagline “I’m the man your man could smell like” and the energetic creative execution, they are changing perceptions of Old Spice; it’s no longer just for older gentlemen, it’s a fresh, newly energized brand with an injection of humor that livens up what was a tired, irrelevant 70s/80s icon.
Small partnerships need to do more networking; and I don’t mean attending lunches, trying to gain new business over nibbles and business card exchanges; although that is a useful tool…
The germ of the idea that would become DGR Communications started back in early 2006 when David (my husband and partner in this business) and I were still living in England. We both had successful careers working in advertising and web design agencies in the Bristol area, but we had been working towards a change of lifestyle and a change of location for a few years, culminating in the plan to move to the US.