It’s a bit like having a pet, or a particularly tricky-to-care-for plant. It looks fantastic when you first get it home, but without regular care and maintenance your miniature tree can pretty quickly start to look a little worse for wear. To cut to the chase we’re talking about your website; have you been neglecting yours of late?
To get the most from your website you really need to nurture it. It’s an ongoing relationship, and like all relationships you should take the time for regular catch ups. You need to make sure you’re promoting yourself in a relevant, up to date and dynamic manner. Websites quickly become out of date, old-fashioned and static. Besides a website where nothing ever changes isn’t one that’s going to encourage return visitors. So to help you show a little love to your digital marketing, here’s a list of ways in which you can make sure website is still the one you want to be with.
Don’t Put Off the Updates
When did you last update the information on your website? Days ago? Weeks, maybe? Heaven forbid your content hasn’t changed for months. Stop procrastinating and get some timely new content on there today. You could add a news or blog section that’s easy to update and quick to refresh. Timetable in a few hours every week to tell your customers what’s new in your world and your website will enjoy a whole new lease of life.
Treat it to Some Pampering
When a visitor lands on your homepage, they make a decision about whether to explore the site further within just a couple of seconds. So you’ve not got long to grab their attention. If your site feels unloved and neglected, that’s how your potential customers will treat it. Give it a facelift with some new images or a design overhaul. The more attention you shower on your site, the better equipped it will be to engage its visitors.
It’s the way you say it
Take a good, hard look at your content. There’s a big difference between what reads well on a word document to what works well as a website. Is your copy as direct, characterful and communicative as you’d like it to be? Keep your ideal client in mind and re-write your copy as though you’re talking directly to them; you’ll find your messages become much more effective.
Show it off
Is your content search engine optimized? You may have the most splendid site in the whole World Wide Web, but if no-one can find it, you’ve got yourself a problem. Make sure you include Google-friendly search terms in your copy and headers and you’ll shoot up the search rankings. You may need to ask the help of a specialist SEO writer if you’re not confident to do this yourself, but increasing visibility for your site is time and money well spent.
Have a heart-to-heart
Your website offers you a way to communicate remotely with your customer base, so by adding an interactive element you can encourage engagement and feedback. A brief customer survey or poll could be a great way of finding out exactly what your customer thinks about you.
