- Do you have a website that was recently completed and you are wondering what to do with it now that it is ready?
- Do you feel that the completion of the website is not the “end” of your web presence strategy?
- Do you feel that you need to take further action and do “something” with your website?
- Have you every asked the question “My Website is Ready. Now What?
If yes, then please read on.
It is critical to understand that your website is not the end, rather it is a means to achieve an end, and that is to attract more visitors, create more business, increase sales and boost profit. Your website needs to be taken care of, “nurtured” and promoted in order for it to be of value to you. Whether your website is an online store, a corporate website, a portal or a personal website, it needs ongoing attention after it is completed.
So, what do you do with your website once it is ready?
Here are a few tips to consider:
1. Keep your website content updated – this is crucial. Keep the content – this includes relevant copy, news, product & service information, contact settings, media (video, images), blog posts, articles and more – updated at all times. Search engines love regular changes – for them, it is a clear indication of an active website and that bodes well for regular indexing by search engine spiders and crawlers. Be sure to target relevant keywords in all your content for proper search engine visibility. Also, know that a robust content management system will greatly ease the pain associated with keeping your website content updated and as an added bonus you will no longer need to depend on your website designer.
2. Promote your website well offline – make sure you include your website address on your stationery, business cards, flyers, brochures, email signatures and any other marketing collateral and offline material. If you use promotional items, make sure that your website address is on such items: be it cups, pens, mouse pads or t-shirts. And remember to place your website address on your signage. And everywhere else that can help you drive more traffic.
3. Promote your website well online – Search Engines are commonly used to search for a company or service or product on the Internet. Your website needs to be promoted on the Internet via organic (natural) search engine optimization so your potential customers can find you. The bottom line is that is your site should list in the top 10 SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages) for all top search engines for best ROI. You can also use other Internet marketing techniques such as email marketing, affiliate marketing, newsletter marketing, article syndication, RSS feeds, press releases and social media marketing. And, oh, don’t forget to create and maintain a useful and relevant blog (preferably attached to your website) to keep your visitors engaged and informed about your company.
4. Add features to attract and retain visitors and make your website a happening “place” – add features to your website that provide value for your visitors to keep them coming back. This could be something as simple as relevant articles or studies, or a free e-book, or a special offer, or pertinent information about what they are looking for. It could also be in the form of valuable tips, or even free tools that they can use. Make your website a “happening” destination!
5. Make one individual an owner of your website – make someone responsible for the website and its content – this could even be you! The owner’s responsibilities would be to keep the site updated, keep it running smoothly and to monitor it. Review your website regularly. And follow the above 4 steps regularly.
6. Add visitor tracking and website analytics – add a visitor tracking and website analytics systems to your website and review the reports with your owner (if that is someone other than you) regularly. Visitor tracking and analytics systems will provide you with intelligence and insights as to the number of visitors that come to your website, where they are coming from, what they are looking for, how the search engines are driving traffic to your site and what keywords are driving them to your website. This information enables you to properly update your content and also allows you to continually tweak your online promotion endeavors.
Your website is an extension of your business. It needs to be treated in a similar way. Consider it to be an investment, not an expense.
