Web Site Maintenance
Many web site owners stop paying attention to their web sites
once the sites are up and running. "Why should I change anything
on my web site? Nothing about my business has changed in the
past 6 months" is a common refrain. A web site is a work in
progress: existing customers come to your web site from time to
time to see what's new; potential customers will often visit
your web site several times before actually buying from you;
search engines visit your web site from time to time to refresh
their indices and record any changes.
Here are the top three ways regular web site maintenance can
improve your bottom line:
1. Encourage your customers to return. Visitors will stop coming
to your site if they don't find any fresh content for prolonged
periods. New information, on the other hand, will ensure that
your web site and information about your products and services
will be fresh in the minds of your customers.
2. Put your best foot forward with potential customers. When
prospective customers visit your web site, they want to make
sure that your business is solid so that they can shop with
confidence. A recently updated web site will score extra points
with potential customers and will go a long way in earning their
trust.
3. Maintain your search engine rankings. Search engine spiders
(software that indexes your pages) will visit your sites
periodically to check for new content. Fresh content is one of
the metrics search use to determine your site's search engine
ranking. Sites that are never or rarely updated (and hence have
potentially stale content) tend to gradually lose their rankings
over time.
I can hear you thinking: "I can see how site maintenance can
help my business. But where do I get fresh content?" Here are a
few ideas to get you started:
1. Focus on industry news. What is happening in your industry?
Interesting industry headlines can be a veritable treasure trove
of fresh content. Add impact by tying news in with your products
or services.
2. Identify new or improved products or services. Is your
business starting a new line of products or offering a new
service? Perhaps you are enhancing a product or expanding a
service? Put this information on your web site and tell your
visitors about it! This could be the service your next visitor
is looking for!
3. Showcase awards or recognition for you or your business. Has
anything happened to your business that is newsworthy? Have you
been interviewed by a local newspaper or given a presentation at
the local Chamber of Commerce? Tell your visitors about it!
4. Write articles that are of interest to your visitors and
publish them on your web site. Make them informative and
interesting to keep your visitors coming back to read more.
Publish articles on a regular basis.
How often should content be updated? It depends on the
information you are providing. News items should be updated
often enough to remain newsworthy; industry news should be
current, and articles should be written regularly. A good rule
of thumb is to update something on your site at least once a
month. Go ahead and try a regular web site maintenance regimen
for six months -- you'll be pleasantly surprised by the results!