We love our technology, but it seems to always go awry at inopportune times, right?
You’re in an unfamiliar city trying to find your way to an appointment when your navigation app hiccups. Rushing to print flyers for a business expo and your computer suddenly can’t find the printer drivers. Or you need quick access to your phone but a software update is taking forever.
While such inconveniences can be irritating, it’s the customer-facing disruptions that are the most challenging for businesses. Your email gets hacked, your website goes offline or a network outage takes down your office phone lines and web server — as well as the auxiliary backup server. The ugliest part about this particular situation is that your site looks fine to the outside world, but phone calls don’t ring or forward to voicemail and emails are launched into the cyber abyss. Talk about freezing out warm leads!
More is not always better
Unfortunately, as our dependency on technology increases, network issues are becoming more commonplace. An article in Network World noted that “the increasing complexity of IT environments is leading to greater numbers of IT- and network-related problems.” Sigh.
So let’s say one of these nasty outages greets you on a Monday morning. Even after you (or your IT expert) report the issue, the resolution may take a bit of time. It’s important to promptly notify any clients or prospects of the situation. Depending on the scope of the outage, consider changing your voicemail message, forwarding business phones to your cell and posting an announcement banner to your website.
Add an announcement to your website (Simple Banner plugin)
If your website is functional, but you need to notify visitors of an urgent issue (an email server or phone outage or emergency closing, for example), add a broadcast message to your website. A WordPress plugin like Simple Banner enables a quick solution. And it’s aptly named: It’s as simple as 1-2-3 to set up, even for the technology novice:
- Download the plugin from WordPress
- Create your custom message
- Activate
The settings include a Preview option so you can see how your banner will look before activating. There are also options to customize background color, font color and to embed hyperlinks. When the situation has been resolved, simply deactivate the plugin in your website back end.
Banners can be used for other purposes as well, such as holiday hours, next available repair or maintenance appointments and weather-related closings. You can even use banners to highlight upcoming events or promotions.
Hopefully you won’t need to use the Simple Banner plugin for outage-related message … but you never know.
Check out these other posts about handy plugins:
- FAQs Made Easy With WordPress Plugins
- Showcase Your Winners: Popular Posts Plugin
- Even A Small Flaw Is Memorable
Or contact us with your web or marketing needs.
