We tell all of our Inn Consulting clients that their website must remain fresh and full of good content to not only attract new customers but to retain existing ones as well.  Now it is time for us to take our own advice.  Even though this version of our website is only a very few years old, a lot of the information is out of date and needs to be refreshed.  We spend a lot of time working on new content via our Blog, since that will help drive customers to the website.  Now we must remember to continually update the website itself, so that once we get our customers to have a look, they will remember us and hopefully come back for a repeat visit.  Isn’t that what Inn websites are all about as well?

Your website must be designed for ease of administration.  It must become a modern database type system with a back end that can be accessed to easily make changes to content on the website.  How many times have you had to call your webmaster with minor changes, and then recall them with typos until it is right?  Modern website design should allow you to make all the necessary changes from your desk by cutting and pasting a Word document.  You should not have to even know a lick about HTML, although rudimentary knowledge might be helpful if you are going to design.  You should be able to add pages already pre-formatted with the look and feel of the website, and add navigation buttons to find these new pages.  You should be able to freely upload new pictures to your website whenever and wherever you like.  If your current website cannot do this without going back to your webmaster, then the time has come for a newer, more modern website.  Let’s really call it a “web system” because that is really what it is.  This is critical to your success on the web, and perhaps more important for your success as a business.  Think about how much of your business is web-based, and you will know how critical it is to have a web system that is user-friendly and capable of handling all of these tasks.  Your web system is after all a good part of the value of your business.  It is the “good will” that you depend on.  Treat it well, and it will definitely help you to succeed. 

Now it is time to take our own advice.   So we will let you know when our new website is on-line for all of you to view.  Remember that the utility of any website is in its backend ease of utility, but if you continually refresh your website content, it will work for you and your business.

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