Your business’ website is an incredibly important part of your marketing strategy, and it helps you draw in customers. When people want to learn about your business, they’ll check out your website first. Therefore it’s absolutely essential to have a good website that will impress users. Oftentimes entrepreneurs create a website once and consider it done. Don’t let your site sit and collect dust. Make sure you revisit it on a regular basis. And if you haven’t done so in a while, you should totally revamp it. Here are some steps to perking up your business’ website.
Update Information
First, check out all the information on your website, especially the About page. Is everything current and accurate? If you’ve made improvements, won awards, added products or services, or if there’s anything new that isn’t reflected on your website, add it. Make sure that all your contact information and hours of operation are clearly visible on the front page of your site; don’t make customers hunt for it. Also check to make sure all your links are working.
Get a Makeover
If you haven’t done so in a while, it’s time to change the design and layout of your website to something fresh and new. You don’t want your customers to get bored with your old look, and a new one will reenergize the feeling of your website. If you aren’t savvy with web design, hire a professional. A professionally-design site will make your business seem a lot more credible.
Rethink Pages
You probably have a handful of main pages that your customers can access, like the About page and Products or Services page. Those should definitely stay, but take a look at the others. Make sure that all your pages are helpful or interesting to your customers. If they’re not, get rid of them. Simplification is the key. If you don’t have a Press Release page, add one and start posting press releases for the benefit of the media.
Integrate Social Media
If you haven’t done so, make sure your social media is fully integrated to your site. Let people know where they can find you on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and any other social networking sites you’re an active member of. Now that Google+ is here to stay, make sure you add the +1 button everywhere you have the Like or Tweet options. This will give users more options for sharing your content, improve your Google search rankings, and show that you’re on top of what’s current.
Reenergize Your Blog
If you have a blog as part of your website, take a good look at it. Are you posting one or two times per week at the very least? If not, you need to put more effort into posting new content on your blog. If you primarily use your blog for SEO purposes, don’t just post repetitive filler content. Actually post genuinely good articles that will benefit your customers. If you don’t want to do this, just get rid of your blog altogether.
Small business consultant Terry Ford wants you to understand that it is crucial to keep your web presence fresh. Double check the words on your pages with help from the web’s #1 grammar checker. Even your social networking pages can make or break your marketing efforts.
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