When is it time to invest in a new website for your printing company?

Since we make websites for printing companies of course we would answer right now! The simple fact is the sooner you launch the sooner you can reap the benefits of a new high end website, but this article will cover a few occasions when launching a new website for your printing business is a great idea and the timing could be perfect.

1. When you start your business. This is the ideal time to launch your website. Every business should have a great looking website that represents their company well and making a first impression is important to getting and maintaining your first customers. Many print shops are started in garages and over a period of time or turn from a hobby into a business. Having a great looking website that impresses your customers is just as important as having a quality printer or press if you are trying to grow your business. Monitor your web traffic to determine the speed of your online growth, and you should be able to utilise your website effectively – the benefits of using event data in this way should help enormously. Make a wise investment in your print shop’s website from the get-go and it will pay dividends for years to come.
2. When you expand your capabilities or add new services. What is the point in adding new services if you are not ready to market and sell them? For example you are a sign shop and decide to add apparel printing to your offerings. Getting these items on a custom website from web2ink is a great way to keep your pricing, products, and options organized for you, your employees and your customers. Often times people think that a website is only for their customers, it is not. Web2ink websites have tons of features that make pricing, invoicing, quoting, scheduling, proofing and managing order much easier. Keep in mind that your site is also a important tool for you and your employees to all be on the same page and when adding new services and products that is crucial.
3. When managing your print shop becomes difficult. Growth in your business is a great thing, if you can manage it. Adding a order management system to your printing business can help keep you and your employees organized, improve your quality, reduce errors, increase turn time and make you job more fun and productive. Web2Ink sites come with a powerful order managment system.
4. After an assessment of your site vs. your competition.
   If you had no competitors you could have an ugly site that does not convert, but that is not the case. If you are on the fence about getting a new website built just go online and find some of you local and national competitors. Make a list of about ten sites including yours and ask at least 10 people to rate them from worst to best. Don’t tell anyone which site is yours, if you are not in the top 3 then you should really consider investing in a new website for your print shop. If you don’t have the time or resources to conduct this test then you need to take a hard unbiased look at your site and ask yourself these questions:
   – Am I proud of my website?
   – Does my site represent everything my company does?
   – If people had to decide to order from me or my competition based solely on my website would I win any orders?
   – Does my website serve any function or is it just a brochure?
   – Does my website help my company and employees be more efficient and do their jobs better?
   – Would I buy from this website?
   – Does my website make my competitors jealous?
   – Would a total stranger assume my business is a market leader by looking at my website?
5. When your customers send you designs from other websites.
   I am sure you have seen a screenshot or a mock-up that someone designed on a popular website and then brought it you to get the order printed. This is basically your client saying “I designed this online on a website that is better then yours, but I want you to print it for me”. Any order is a great order, but this is a great sign that it is time to become one of those print shops with a high end website that your customers will want to use.
6. Your website does not look good on mobile devices.
   This should probably be number 1 or 2. Websites for printing companies must be mobile friendly and responsive to all screen sizes and devices. The two main reasons you must have this are:
   1. Over 60% of all eCommerce orders are placed on mobile devices and over 70% of all internet bandwidth is consumed by mobile devices.
   2. Google and other search engines will penalize your websites if you not mobile friendly. Check out this article by SEO hermit

Anytime is a great time to update and improve the website for your print shop. These times make perfect sense. When you are ready to grow your business or if you have any questions about our software for print companies please reach out to us.