The Effects Of Having An Unmanaged Website
Your business website is, quite literally, your online face. It's where potential customers and clients will look first to see what you do and who you are. Your website is also the most important tool for building new business relationships.
So why would anyone want to jeopardize all this by having an unmanaged website? The answer is easy—because having an unmanaged website seems like the easiest option. However, when you choose this route, you're doing this to put your business in grave danger of collapsing without its key marketing asset.
A poorly managed website can lead to lost business opportunities, customer dissatisfaction, and damage to your company's image—none of which are things you want to be tied to your company's name.
Why Avoid Having An Unmanaged Website?
Your website is a tool for business. It must be considered as necessary as any other sales or marketing tool you have at your disposal—which makes it similar to a shopfront. Just as people expect a shopfront to be presentable and accessible, so too do potential customers who want to see the same of your website.
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Unmanaged Websites Are Easy To Hack
No matter how experienced you are at web design, having an unmanaged website means that it's very likely something will go wrong. Websites are frequently targeted by hackers or malware developers who try to exploit their vulnerabilities. If this happens, your business could be put in danger of losing customers, not to mention reputational damage.
As this is a possibility with unmanaged websites, your business could also be in danger of hijacking its website by competitors who want to sabotage it. While this happening might seem unlikely, remember that even big names have been targeted in the past.
If your website is hacked or hijacked, you will likely lose customers, especially if they do not know that it is not your fault. You also risk being fined by regulators who might think that you were negligent with protecting customer confidentiality.
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It May Lead To SEO Problems
Having an unmanaged website is also likely to lead to problems with search engine optimization (SEO). This is because many of the most popular SEO techniques are very time-consuming, which is often only practical for professionals. If you don't have enough time to dedicate to your website's SEO, your business will risk losing customers trying to navigate their way around the Internet.
If your website is unmanaged, you also run the risk of it not being mobile-friendly. If more than 50% of your customers access your site through a smartphone or tablet device, then this will be an issue that could affect sales. It can even lead to your business being fined for not providing customers with an adequate browsing experience.
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It Will Put Your Business's Reputation At Risk
The final significant risk of having an unmanaged website is that it will put your reputation at risk. If you plan to make your business website public, it must look clean and professional—a poorly managed site sends the wrong message about your brand or company. Potential customers may not trust you, which means that they are unlikely to buy from your company. All of this can be avoided by hiring a web design agency with experience in managing websites.
One of the best options to avoid these risks is hiring a professional web development team to keep your website safe and secure—something that may cost you much more than the average business can afford.
