In 2015, when we started planning our first Web Marketing Checkup Clinic, I wrote the original version of this blog post. Now that we've hosted a few of these checkup clinics, as well as conducted countless one-on-one checkups for clients and non-clients alike, I thought I would revisit how it all began and why this exercise is so important to us.
Hopefully, you've had the opportunity to have a web marketing checkup or have joined us for another workshop or event, here at the Tribute Media office. If you have, you know two things:
1) They are always fun and educational
2) Corey cooks some mean BBQ
But other than food and fun, why do we do it? Why do we lend our time and expertise to businesses... FOR FREE?
In short: Because we love building businesses.
What is a Web Marketing Checkup?
First, we should probably confess that we didn't always call it that. We used to sometimes refer to these checkups as web marketing audits. And then we realized nobody wants to be audited. We may as well have called it a weboscopy.
"Checkup" is really a more appropriate term, anyway. We simply wanted to offer the benefit of our experience to help organizations check the overall health of their web presence and web marketing strategies and to see how those two things could help them meet their business goals.
When we talk to people who are interested in improving their web presence, there are several issues that need to be tackled and common questions to answer:
- Is my website easy for people to use?
- Does it look reputable?
- Am I being found by search engines?
- Is my content compelling and my design clean and current?
- Do my web marketing efforts make people want to engage with me?
The goal of the clinic is to offer some friendly but honest feedback on your website and web marketing strategy. Yes, we can be a bit blunt, but we would never just tell you that you suck and send you on your way.
If we think a website is bad, we'll tell you why a website is bad.
If there's nothing a sweet new website can do to save you from a dated or tacky logo, we'll let you know.
If your website looks legit but you're being a spaz on social media, we're going to tell you what you can do better.
How did you ever think of that?
Well, blog reader, I'm glad you asked! This idea was stolen from inspired by Zamzows, a local lawn, garden, and pet store.
Oh, is that weird?
Not really, if you think about it, or if I just tell you why it's not.
One day, I was chatting with our amazing and talented Art Director, Don, about brands we love (that's the kind of geeky stuff that happens around here) and he mentioned Zamzows. He said that he loved that he could take a chunk of his grass into the store, and they would examine it and tell him how to best treat or eliminate problems with his lawn.
So we thought, we should do that!
But, as it turns out, we don't know that much about grass.
Instead, we examine websites and give advice on how to start making improvements or eliminate problems with people's web design and marketing.
How Do You Get One?
You don't have to be a client. You don't have to have a site built in Drupal or HubSpot. You don't even have to have an appointment if you join us for our next open-house-style Web Marketing Checkup Clinic. (<<<That was a link you should have clicked on.) You just have to be able to handle some constructive criticism.
Written by Lindsey Bowshier
Lindsey is the President of Tribute Media. Her degree is in English and Communication with an emphasis in Journalism, her background is in copywriting and content marketing, and she's had pretty much every job at Tribute Media since she joined the agency in 2014. Outside of work, Lindsey participates in a "super-cool-not-at-all-nerdy" writing group. Her favorite writer is Dorothy Parker.
