Websites are like cars - you can't drive them forever. You have to change the oil, you have to fill up the gas, you've got to rotate the tires. These are things that you're going to do with your website, and the frequency with which you do them will improve the shelf life of your website.

Transcription

Hello again this is Monica Pitts - Welcome to Marketing with Purpose. With me today to finish up our two part podcast about how long websites last and how to make them last longer is Mrs. Stacy Brockmeier.

0:17  

Hey guys.

0:19  

So Stacy is our resident expert consultant slash sales lady. Wearer of all the hats. And she regularly reviews websites and helps people decide what they can do to make them last longer. 

We discussed in the last episode, how long a website will probably be good for, and we decided at this point, like three to six years, three to six years. Yep, yep. And we also went on a total rants about cell phones and stuff that was very fun for us and hopefully...

0:53  

User expectations and stuff.

0:55  

It really turned into user expectations. So if you are wondering if your website needs to be updated, there are lots of different ways that you can get this information. The first part - Well, and all of it is really understanding user expectations really, ah, see all the way back around. 

So how do I define user expectations when it comes to being online? I feel like there's two ways one is using your gut and doing a little bit of like elbow grease research. And then the next would be going concrete and running a bunch of tests. So let's start with using your gut.

1:38  

Yeah, so there are different styles for different industries, you know, whether they're advanced industries or service based industries, or really any industry has a little bit of a different style, and then their users expect different functionality out of that site.

1:55  

Yeah. One of the things that I try to do annually is an...so most years, I get it done. I go out and I look for great websites. So I already have a list of great websites that I've reviewed before. And then I search for services in different areas of the United States. And I make a list of all the websites that I think are cool. And then I go through them and I write them and I say, Okay, this website gets a 5on usability and this website gets a 2 on X, Y, and Z right? Because I have all the criteria listed out for what makes that type of website great in industry.

2:37  

What's great, what could be improved upon just a little bit.

2:40  

Yeah, and then as