New website, who is this? (Did I say that right?) Anyway, congratulations! You finally got yourself a new online home. So what next? Well, if we keep with the home metaphor, it would be high time to throw a housewarming. Invite all of your friends. Show them all the shiny new photos you’ve taken and all of the fancy new words you’ve written about your business. It’s new! It’s exciting! Tell the world!
Okay, so you’ve done that. They came, they saw, they congratulated.
Now what? Well, after all the hype is over, after all of the guests go home, after all of the newness is taken in… you must continue to keep that fire lit!
To stay relevant to your customers and prospects, it’s important to update your website regularly. Here are some tips to keep web content fresh and on-point.
Publish relevant content weekly: Most people mistakenly think that keeping their website relevant means redesigning it every year. Not so! It’s all about that content. I know you’ve heard this before, but I’ll say it again, in case you’re not listening. So just how do we keep our client’s website relevant without a complete redesign? Pay attention to what your readers are consuming. Use Google Analytics to see what they’re reading and write more about those topics! When you pay attention to what your readers want and give them more of it via posts, products, and services, you’ll not only keep your website relevant, you’ll able to build a successful business.
Keywords count: Keyword placement is really important when it comes to your website ranking in search engines. Like rules? Well, here you go: place your primary keyword in the title, URL, the first 100 words, headings and subheadings, and then again in the last 100 words of my content. This will help search engines to index your content. I also like to make sure that my primary keyword is 3-4 words long, which is called a long-tail keyword. Using this helps people to find exactly what they need, and it’s more specific and less broad than a one-word keyword.
Update the header image on your site. Most websites have a large, beautiful header image that’s the first thing your site visitors see. Update this every few months and you’ll be in the top 5% of active sites.
Keep the Place Dusted. Maintaining your fluid pages is important — don’t let them get dusty!This would be your news, blog, social channels, team list, pricing page, service offerings, etc. If your most recent blog post is five years old and you’re still listing employees who have not been with your company since Obama was president is an indicator that your company is not very detail-oriented.
Know Your Message. Consistent messaging is of utmost importance. By the time your website is up, you’ve likely honed, or at least gotten close to knowing your value proposition. Make sure your clients get that too — and not just in one place, but everywhere. There are so many businesses out there doing the same (or similar) things, it’s important to ride your sweet spot. Why should your ideal client work with you and not the other? Use that in your content, in your website descriptions, in your titles, copy, everywhere. Ensure that you let your visitor know exactly how you can help them and keep that message consistent and prominent across pages. Once you’ve got that part right, it makes your marketing tactics and messages more effective. It makes it easier for you to be found.
Offer some party favors. If you love what you do, don’t just say it, show it! One way to do this is by offering something valuable for free to new visitors. Offering new and useful content to educate, inform, entertain, and help a potential client goes such a long way and makes a great first impression! There is a catch, though. You’ll want to ask for their email, of course. If they give you their email and promise not to spam, there’s a good chance they’ll give you it in exchange for some content that’ll help elevate their own brand or business.
You’ve gotta treat your website like a garden. If it’s not maintained, it can spin out of control and gather weeds very quickly, and it’ll show. Keep that blog up to date, diversify your content (maybe you want to try vlogging next week?), update your FAQ section when a new question comes up, and share your testimonials with the world! Keep an eye out for outdated material on a regular basis. Please remember: It doesn’t have to be perfect, but it’s gotta work! I’m all about “growth-driven design”. This is where a site is always evolving and changing based on your observations, testing, analytics and needs. They’re not going to be stagnant and since your website is a reflection of you, it’ll need to evolve as you and your business do. There’s nothing wrong with that! You can do this!