Websites and Bathrooms

My dad is a Marketing Professor and one of the most valuable business-related nuggets he ever taught me was that the best way to judge a restaurant (or any business) is by the state of its bathroom. It’s pretty easy to follow the logic, if the bathroom is dirty and unhygienic just imagine what the kitchen looks like.

This same reasoning holds up perfectly when it comes to an organisation’s website and there are a number of parallels I would like to highlight.

Consider this, it takes a certain level of management and effectiveness to keep a bathroom clean and well maintained and it cannot be solved in a onetime upfront capital outlay. It is an ongoing operational matter that needs resources and attention. The exact same principle is true for a website, so why then do the majority of web development companies charge you a one time upfront fee and leave you to wander alone in the wilds of a rapidly changing internet. If you don’t have a partner maintaining and keeping your website up to date with the latest technical and design standards your website is going to start stinking up your customer’s impression of your business.

Second parallel - a business knows that their customers are going to be engaging with their bathroom – I mean ultimately that’s the reason why the bathroom is even there – to be used by a customer. So, what excuse could there be for it ever being a subpar experience? In fact, what excuse could there be for it not being an outstanding and amazing experience. Why would you waste this precious opportunity to make an outstanding impression on your target market. Whether they are the children of Marketing Professors or not – the state of that bathroom is going to have profound impact on how they view your company even if its only at a subconscious level.

I think the web equivalent of this point is obvious enough without having to explicitly explain it but I would just like to make the point of the growing importance of your website and its impact on your presence in the world. One way in which it is not like a toilet is that there is probably a limit to the percentage of customers who will actually go into your bathroom, either to use it or get an impression of how effectively your business is managed. There is no such limitation when it comes to websites and its probably fair to say that in the year 2020 you can be confident that anyone who is a meaningful customer of your business has checked out your website to find out more information.

The third and final parallel is this: there is a large spectrum of potential bathroom experiences your customers could have from the “gringy porta potty outside a concert that has been used by 700 people in the last hour” all the way up to the “jasmin scented hot towels and heated floor tiles”. There is also a wide array of websites out there in the world and depending on your strategy and the importance you weight towards finding and attracting customers online you might only want to present something that is acceptable and decent - but you definitely should not have your customer pinching their nose shut while they check out your site.

So what’s the point of all these random ramblings on bathrooms and websites?

Your website is important and you should put in the effort to make sure it’s not subpar.

Quite an obvious statement, but with the upfront costs and effort it takes to make a decent website it becomes a bit intimidating to fulfil. At UpDawg we make this so easy for you. You literally just need to tell us about your business, send us any other marketing material you may have developed and our team of designers and web developers will get to work creating a beautiful “jasmine scented hot towels and heated floor tiles” online experience for your customers.

Here are just a few more reasons why a standalone website is beneficial to your business:

• A website will make you look more professional, reputable and trustworthy
• Your website is the gateway to getting started on a proper legit digital marketing strategy
• Its your own piece of real estate for telling the world why your business is awesome
• A website is a powerful channel for selling your products
• Your can share your best reviews and testimonials with customers
• Its an effective channel for your customers to get in touch with you
• You can integrate your website with many other web services such as Google maps and help your customers find you

If you would like to get started get a high quality professional website – get in touch with us below.