Oyinloluwa Alalade, Communications Consultant and Professional, highlights the organisation’s website as more than a static touchpoint, urging brands to treat it as what it is: core owned media. She explores the importance of consistency, relevance, and intentional upkeep in ensuring it truly serves its purpose as a powerful and strategic digital asset.
Almost all organisations or companies have a website, mostly developed at the outset to showcase credibility by articulating the vision, purpose, services, and other required public-facing details of an organisation. Many organisations, however, after the first few months, reduce this to an abandoned outpost, visited and updated occasionally, patched when necessary, and treated as an afterthought instead of the powerful and strategic asset that it is.
A website is owned media. This means the organisation has direct and full control over it. Whatever you want to do, share, feature, or communicate can be done on your website. Unlike social media platforms, where an organisation is subject to algorithms, trends, or even platform updates, a website remains the constant, centralised source that any audience can visit. This makes it non-negotiable that it should never be left on the back burner.
Beyond the search engine optimisation, load speed, and traffic generation, there are many basic things a brand must always consider when it comes to its website:
A website should have a clear structure. Tabs and subtabs should be easy to find, clearly labelled, and well organised. A Reports or Resources tab should not be placed under a Contact tab. A first-time visitor should be guided seamlessly from general or highlighted information on the homepage to more specific content. An easy-to-navigate website is one of the core principles of good website design. While the number of page scrolls is not universally standardised, two to three scrolls before the footer is generally recommended to maintain user attention.
Real-time updates on a website cannot be overemphasised. A brand’s website should serve as the primary reference point for its audiences. Changes in leadership, if announced on social media or through press briefings, should immediately be reflected on the website. The same applies to updates in personnel listed under ‘Our Team’, newly launched programmes or resources, projects, interventions, or even published vacancies. Even when recruitment is handled by a third party, there should be a redirect link from the website. In the long run, audiences get used to leveraging the brand’s website as a fact-checking option.
Closely linked to real-time updates is the freshness of content. Company websites should showcase engagement, dynamism, and continuous impact through occasional reshuffling of displayed media, featured reports, or even spotlighted individuals.
Consistency in language use is another subtle, often overlooked, but important detail on websites. Nigeria officially uses British English, but this can differ for brands based on individual contexts. A brand should be consistent with its language use – UK, US or Nigerian – across all pages. A mixture of language use often reflects a dent in professionalism, especially in global spaces.
A feedback loop is germane. Some users simply want to be able to get in touch with a focal person, make direct enquiries or drop a message. This is where the accessibility and openness of a brand come into play. Either a BOT, monitored email address and phone number, messaging options, or there should be an easily identifiable way of reaching the organisation. Most brands do leave this information at the footer, and this is mostly where every web user would initially scroll to.
In terms of functionality, a search button for a word or a phrase on a website comes in handy, especially on a content-heavy website. This helps users find exactly what they need without navigating through the onion layers. Again, a user-first mindset.
A company’s website should be treated with care and intention. It requires prioritisation, constant attention, intentional design and pampering. Hence, a dedicated person or team should be responsible for maintaining it. Investing in a company’s website is not water down the drain, it builds trust, reinforces the brand, and strengthens the foundation for effective communication. First impressions matter, especially in the digital space.
