At this time of year it is good to look back on your journey so far…
When it comes to websites this is made easier by the Wayback Machine – a site that archives web sites and lets you go back in time to see what they looked like in the past:
http://www.archive.org/web/web.php
Looking up taxhelp.uk.com I found that their archive goes back to 2007, which is useful in chronicling the site since then:
2007 – I was using a site that I had written myself. Whilst providing all the relevant information a potential client would need, this lacked the professional polish that a web developer would bring.
2008 – Saw the commissioning of the new website, at considerable cost. Whilst this looked good, I could no longer update the site myself – something that’s important with the constant changes occurring in tax. However, an introduction back in 2008 by the web developers actually turned out to be the company I’m now using in 2012 for the latest site.
2009 – This saw a return to my own ability to update the site, having purchased professional web design software myself and learnt how to use it. It also saw the introduction of video on the site, with several videos I had shot to further explain the service being used.
2010 – With the emergence of social media this saw more options on the site for sharing, as well as links to several of my online profiles.
2011 – Blogging has been something I’ve done since 2009, so it made sense to integrate this to the taxhelp.uk.com website – so that I can provide tips that can be useful to clients, as well as keeping them up to date. It also saw the introduction of the trademark, in preparation for 2012.
2012 – The next stage of the business sees the anticipated launch of the franchise in the first quarter of 2012. As a result, the site is evolving again, this time with a complete redesign to take account of the franchise requirements.
Looking back to 2007, it’s amazing how far the site has come – how has yours changed?