Once you have built your website — or had it built for you — what else is there to do? Yes, you can sit back and contemplate a job well done but, increasingly, I am being asked to carry out website rescues which get a site back on track and earning its keep.

A lot of small business websites serve as an online brochure. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that, of course. Having an online presence is a key part of your business strategy and there are plenty of organisations out there that are prepared to help you develop an online campaign built around Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or whichever other media tool can be pulled in to assist. The trouble is that an online brochure is just that — a brochure.

Phase II

Getting your company/organisation/self online is great but you are likely to learn a lot from that first experience… if only to recognise that there is so much more that you could do. So having a ‘Phase II’ project in mind is no bad thing and a website rescue is aimed at addressing a number of potential issues that are common on websites:

• giving visitors something to do — a ‘call to action’;
• making the site easier to find;
• nailing down some of the security loopholes;
• improving the site’s speed and efficiency;
• making the site easier to maintain and update;
• improving the user experience so that will visit again.

At jPAD Consulting we have experience in rescuing sites that have become a burden rather than an asset to your organisation. We can provide advice, encouragement and hands-on assistance in improving your website so that it becomes an integral part of your business.