NewEnglandFilm hosts the workshop One Week to Your Brilliant New Website.

Connecticut | Film School & Education | Filmmaking | How To's | Internet | Los Angeles | Maine | Massachusetts | New England | New Hampshire | New York | Rhode Island | Vermont

10 Signs Your Website Needs a Major Makeover

Check out this list, and see how NewEnglandFilm.com Founder Michele Meek can help.

27 Feb , 2019  

Written by Michele Meek | Posted by:

Are you embarrassed by your website? Is your website propelling your career forward or holding it back? Check out these 10 signs that your website might need a major makeover. As the founder of NewEnglandFilm.com, I’ve spent over the past two decides working with filmmakers, nonprofits, and creative entrepreneurs to build and launch their online brands and websites. This March, I’m offering an online workshop One Week to Your Brilliant New Website. Join us.

I’m always a bit amazed when I come across yet another filmmaker’s or actor’s or creative entrepreneur’s website that’s in need of a major overhaul. Your website is your virtual business card—it’s where people go to discover more about you and your work. And the stakes are higher for those of us working in a visual medium. Without realizing it, you may be limiting your press exposure, missing opportunities, and damaging your reputation.

As the founder of NewEnglandFilm.com, I’ve spent over the past two decades working with filmmakers, nonprofits, and creative entrepreneurs to build and launch their online brands and websites. This March, I’m offering an online workshop One Week to Your Brilliant New Website. My goal is to help filmmakers who are on a budget build and launch a brilliant website that will showcase them and their work. If you are one of the first 10 people to sign up by March 6, you can take 20% off the price by using code 20NEF. Plus you’ll also get a year of free web hosting, two one-on-one consultations, and a month ad on our site.

Here are the 10 signs that your website needs a major makeover. If one or more of them apply to you, I hope you’ll join me in the workshop.

1. You haven’t updated your website in years.

What are you waiting for? Why be embarrassed by your website, when it could be a beautiful showpiece for you and your work?

2. Your website is not mobile-friendly and responsive.

Over half of all websites are currently accessed on a mobile device. A mobile-friendly or responsive site is no longer an “extra.” It’s an essential component to any effective website.

3. Your website is missing key sections like press kits, contact info or social media icons.

What do people need when they come to your website? What do you want to make sure they don’t miss? It’s essential that you think about your website’s audience, purpose, and tone so your visitors get what you hope they do from a visit.

4. You don’t have an email signup on your site.

Your visitors should be able to subscribe to your updates—plain and simple. If they can’t, you are missing an opportunity to interact with the people who care most about your project. It’s fine to have Facebook and Instagram followers, but email lists are still the most effective marketing tool.

5. Your website lacks large beautiful images.

The web is a visual medium. Especially in the film industry, people that come to your website want to be wowed by the images from your film.

Trying to jam everything into one page is always a mistake. Instead opt for simpler design with more white space that will help people see the options on your site.

6. Your website doesn’t look contemporary and professional.

Does your website look like it was built in 2006? Or 1996? There are so many simple, functional, and beautiful templates that you can use to build your new website. Get on it.

7. You’re not sure what SEO means.

SEO, or search engine optimizations, is essential for people finding your website. Do have Google Analytics or other software to track where your visitors are coming from? What have you done to ensure that you are getting the most from Google and other search engines?

8. You have a blog on your site, but you haven’t updated in months (or years).

If you have a blog section on your website, you need to keep it up-to-date. Your most recent post should be no older than a few weeks. Otherwise, you’re giving a strong message that you are not attending to your website—so why should anyone else?

9. You’ve kept tacking on additional pages to your site, but you haven’t thought about its structure.

This is a common result of a website that’s changed over time without a focused plan on the site’s design and navigation. Adding another link to your sidebar isn’t going to cut it. It’s time for rethinking the overall look & feel.

10. You don’t have a website—instead you use your Facebook page as your site.

There are so many reasons why this is a terrible idea that it’s hard to begin. But the most important reason is when you do this, you cannot control who sees your content and when. If you use Facebook as your website, you don’t have visitors or users, Facebook does.

Any of these sound familiar?  Don’t despair—we can help! Sign up for our online workshop One Week to Your Brilliant New Website by March 6. If you’re one of the first 10 signups, you can take 20% off the price by using code 20NEF.