The cold hard fact is nobody cares. This may sound crass, however, it is the reality of our society’s insatiable need to collectively stuff our minds with the latest information; in this context, ‘information’ is used as a loose description. We have all become so accustomed to the desire, click, and retrieve practice, that we now believe any delay in this sequence to be an abhorrent injustice against us. I have a feeling some extraterrestrials are shaking their collective heads at us right now.    

If at any point your company website is unavailable to visitors for an extended period of time, it can cause irreparable damage to your brand presence. In this day and age ‘downtime’ is almost unacceptable to the general populace. In fact, it actually shocks most of us when we hear about instances like Facebook’s recent inexplicable departure from the web’s mainstays for several hours. Let’s provide a brief disclaimer here as well; sometimes downtime is unavoidable due to maintenance or technical glitches requiring immediate attention. That being said, if your site is being updated or upgraded, it should be coordinated behind the scenes. Taking down the nucleus of your online brand is like closing down a brick and mortar location for an unexpected impromptu vacation; an extremely detrimental business maneuver.

1. Current visitors are provided no prior notice and are usually not accepting of this practice.

2. New arrivals to your website are welcomed with this as their first impression of your business.

3. Website release deadlines are often delayed for a myriad of reasons – so be weary of countdown launches.

4. These pages generally don’t provide links for other venues where the client can acquire information in the interim.

5. These pages were more prevalently seen 10 years ago.

The most valuable facet of your online presence is that it’s working to promote your brand and provide information to consumers 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Whether we agree with it or not, it is the expectation of consumers to visit and use a website whenever they desire. Fair or not, we are an instant gratification society, especially when it comes to our demand for information.

Always ask yourself:

Could this possibly hurt the online presence we’re attempting to build for our business? This one logical question will insulate your brand from damaging interruptions.