December 15, 2015

Show Your Website Some Love

Share the goods.

Stop treating your website like a red headed step child.

Do we have your attention now? Good. Hope so. If you’re like the companies and organizations we work with, you’ve invested a lot of time and money into the design and development of your website. For what? So it looks cool? So it’s responsive?
Really, why did you do it? The answer should include things like: We redesigned our website…

to be more user focused
to provide specific paths for our target audiences
to help us meet our lead generation goals
to impact the bottom line.

Really, we hope that these are some of the reasons why you updated your website. But wait… now what? You invested all that time and money… when was the last time you looked at your website? When was the last time you updated your website?
It happens all the time – you sprint to the finish line to get the website done. And when the website is “done” then you’ll do all these great things to optimize it, keep it relevant and continue to use it to build the business. Heck, you may even start blogging. But then, you get busy – and the website is “done” – so you focus on all those other things you didn’t do when you were working so hard on the website.
That website of yours is a living, breathing marketing tool. It is a hub for ALL of your marketing activity. It generates leads while you’re sleeping, sipping coffee or even at the work Christmas party. It’s there when people are looking for what you do, whether they know who you are or not.
You’ve heard it all before:

You should be blogging.
You should be reviewing your website weekly.
You should be keeping your website fresh.
You should be working out more (oops, that’s for a New Year’s blog. Yeah. That’s coming too).

The bottom line is that developing a website is a big investment in time, money and knowledge from your company. It is not a place where content goes to die to never be seen again. Your website is where content should start, then it can be repurposed and used in other mediums – direct mail, print ads, email marketing, social media content and more. Whether you keep your website fresh through a blog, case studies, portfolio, ebooks or your news updates – you need to do something. And, you need to do it consistently.
Caution: Lame House to Website Reference Below Proceed with Caution
Building a beautiful new website as one of your most valuable strategic marketing tools is like investing in a beautiful new landscape for your home. Then, when you don’t update your website or do anything for it again… it’s like never mowing, pruning or weeding that landscape again. It gets old, brown and people wonder if anyone lives there anymore. Except in your websites case, people wonder if you’re company is still around, if you still offer those same products or services, and if you do, how savvy are you anyway?
So take this redhead’s word for it. Make sure your company website is treated fairly, like all of your other marketing and communications tools. Give it the love and attention it deserves; in turn it will repay you in leads, sales and success.
Header Image Credit: https://memegenerator.net/instance/61184065

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Panel table set up with microphones, water bottles and name cards for a perimenopause discussion featuring three guest panelists.

It Is Time to Have More Uncomfortable Conversations About Perimenopause

Kim stands at the front of a room. She's holding a microphone giving a speech to a room full of PR professionals.

Keeping Humans in the AI Loop: A Guide to Responsible AI Adoption

Something on Your Mind?

A little rain didn’t slow @bodespeaks down.

Kim was in Washington, D.C., this past week for #AUSA2026 - three days where Army leaders, industry partners, and the defense community come together for innovation, insight, and connection.

We can’t wait to hear some of her takeaways. Stay tuned for more soon.

@ausaorg #DefenseIndustry #Leadership #AUSA

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A little rain didn’t slow @bodespeaks down.

Kim was in Washington, D.C., this past week for #AUSA2026 - three days where Army leaders, industry partners, and the defense community come together for innovation, insight, and connection.

We can’t wait to hear some of her takeaways. Stay tuned for more soon.

@ausaorg #DefenseIndustry #Leadership #AUSA

Who made all these rules anyway?

Don’t wear color. Don’t share your ideas. Don’t put yourself out there. Don’t talk about your family.

We’re told to follow them, but @bodespeaks says question every single one. Then uncover your big hairy audacious goal, throw out the rulebook, and build a personal brand that actually works for you.

Thank you to Aggie and Cristy for having Kim on the @badass_women_in_business Podcast and, well... for being total badasses.

Listen to the full episode in bio.

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We had some fun in the office this week and asked some of the 8THIRTYFOUR team what “square up” means.

Surprisingly, the Gen Z of the group got it, but one of our Gen X’s did not (not saying any names…)

How do you “square up”?

#trending #fyp #squareup #agencylife

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We had some fun in the office this week and asked some of the 8THIRTYFOUR team what “square up” means.

Surprisingly, the Gen Z of the group got it, but one of our Gen X’s did not (not saying any names…)

How do you “square up”?

#trending #fyp #squareup #agencylife

The 834 Learning Hub is where we throw fun shindigs, where cool people come to work, where Big Deal Energy gathers, and where we push you to get uncomfortable.

It’s not your typical event or coworking space - and we like it that way. The lighting, colors, wallpaper, layout, and yes, the dogs, are all very intentional.

If you need a spot to host your offsite team training, leadership quarterly, photo shoot (dogs can be included), or you just need a space to network or cowork - reach out.

We got the goods:
- A sweet sound system
- State-of-the-art digital whiteboard
- A really big T.V. Like it’s big.
- Your own private entrance
- Free parking
- A dog (or two) if you ask nicely

Drop us a line at hello@8thirtyfour.com or click the link in bio to rent the Hub today.

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The 834 Learning Hub is where we throw fun shindigs, where cool people come to work, where Big Deal Energy gathers, and where we push you to get uncomfortable.

It’s not your typical event or coworking space - and we like it that way. The lighting, colors, wallpaper, layout, and yes, the dogs, are all very intentional.

If you need a spot to host your offsite team training, leadership quarterly, photo shoot (dogs can be included), or you just need a space to network or cowork - reach out.

We got the goods:
- A sweet sound system
- State-of-the-art digital whiteboard
- A really big T.V. Like it’s big.
- Your own private entrance
- Free parking
- A dog (or two) if you ask nicely

Drop us a line at hello@8thirtyfour.com or click the link in bio to rent the Hub today.

We love Dr. Karen May’s mission.

What if we taught our daughters AND our sons about women’s health, hormones, and pregnancy? Not as a whispered “talk” or a one-time awkward conversation. Just normal dinner-table stuff.

The girls deserve to know what’s coming (perimenopause shouldn’t be a surprise party nobody wanted). And the boys? They’ll be partners, dads, coworkers, and bosses to women going through all of it.

Thank you, Dr. May, for sharing your best practices to keep the women’s health conversation going at our Uncomfortable Conversations | The Pause event.

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We love Dr. Karen May’s mission.

What if we taught our daughters AND our sons about women’s health, hormones, and pregnancy? Not as a whispered “talk” or a one-time awkward conversation. Just normal dinner-table stuff.

The girls deserve to know what’s coming (perimenopause shouldn’t be a surprise party nobody wanted). And the boys? They’ll be partners, dads, coworkers, and bosses to women going through all of it.

Thank you, Dr. May, for sharing your best practices to keep the women’s health conversation going at our Uncomfortable Conversations | The Pause event.

Showing up to an interview with an iced coffee? Not the move… unless it’s for @bodespeaks

#icedcoffee #agency #PR #trending #grandrapids