For the last 30 years, we have experienced a world-changing event whenever a new decade has come around. The end of the Cold War. The 9-11 terror attacks. The 2008-2009 financial crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic.

There is a clear before-and-after to these moments in History, which shift the paradigm as far as new normals go.

While we are still fighting the coronavirus, significant conclusions can already be drawn and acted upon to seize the opportunities lying down the road.

For any entity wishing to thrive in the days ahead, whether it is an interest group or a business, a strong web presence is now essential to ensure the future of any endeavour.

In the 90’s, websites were a cutesy curiosity. In the 2000’s they became significant rallying points. In the 2010’s they were starting to supplant brick-and-mortar storefronts. In the 2020’s, they will be foundational to success in any measure.

While the coronavirus significantly damaged the global economy that depended on real-life interactions, initiatives that had invested significant resources into building up their online presence and platforms saw their numbers grow exponentially. While in-person interactions will progressively resume as the pandemic tapers off, the citizen-consumer’s new online reflexes are likely to remain.

If you have not invested in a strong or renewed web presence to this day, the time to make that decision is now.

There is a bit of a myth with regards to websites.

“They’re too expensive. They’re too complicated to make. People don’t know how to use them.”

The good news is those myths are now easy to bust.

While it is true that a decent website can be costly, the return on investment on a well-developed web offer is quick and sizable: your local bakery can easily sell to customers in the next town over through its online presence, the woodworking shop around your street corner can market is goods to the entire world through an electronic marketplace. The website pays for itself by saving time and energy in marketing, while avoiding the lost business that comes with a solely brick-and-mortar operation.

In the 2010’s, a number of standardized tools have been developed for building websites quickly and stylishly, with specialized solutions that can be customized to fit most of your organizational needs. Websites no longer need to be arcane creations in the sole purview of programmers whose custom-coding wizardry work is lost on you. In fact, most new streamlined solutions can get you to visualize changes in real-time and facilitate your public’s online experience with you.

We have seen many of our clients’ perceptions of themselves be transformed by a renewed online presence, and site renewals have positively impacted their conversion rates thanks to an increasingly tech-literate online audience. It is useful to think of a fresh website as an equal to major office renovation projects that make everyone involved better and re-energized about the venture, as well as where it is headed.

At KWM Consulting, we have a vast array of web design tools for information, mobilization and activation, at scale and in sync, no matter the range of your project. The introspection required demands courage, but its benefits will quickly outweigh any discomfort. While there may be valid fears and stresses around building a website and answering a consumer’s “Who are you?”, at KWM Consulting, we help you take the initiative now by helping you articulate “Here is who we are”.