Does the copyright at the bottom of your site still say 2009? Do you still show the bio of an employee who left three years ago? Are there old broken links on the site?\u00a0 Was your last calendar update last year? All of these are symptoms of simple neglect \u2013 and they\u2019re typically easy to miss. How to fix this mistake:<\/p>\n
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- Do you have a staff member (possibly yourself) charged with the task of reviewing your site periodically? If not, schedule some time once per month, or even once per quarter, to check your
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<\/a>site.<\/li>\n- Are you unable to add or edit the site without the help of your designer, who\u2019s always too busy? Consider moving to a content management system (CMS) like WordPress. You\u2019ll be able to very easily change and add content whenever you need to.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Your website marketing<\/a> isn\u2019t helping your business\u2019s credibility.<\/strong><\/p>\n
Those broken links and old content aren\u2019t just inconvenient \u2013 they can make your business look bad. Consider that your website may be the first experience a potential customer has with your company. Don\u2019t make a bad first impression!\u00a0 How to gain credibility using your website:<\/p>\n
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- Fix broken links and keep content up to date.<\/li>\n
- Don\u2019t use a free site that forces your URL to be something like \u2018mycompany.myfreehost.com.\u2019 Invest in a domain of your own: \u2018www.mycompany.com.\u2019<\/li>\n
- Use the email accounts that come with your hosting services \u2013 instead of \u2018john@aol.com,\u2019 send your business correspondence using \u2018john@mycompany.com.\u2019<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Your website marketing<\/a> doesn\u2019t help people get in touch with you as much as it could.<\/strong><\/p>\n
Sure, you might have an email address link posted on your site. But some potential customers might be using a public computer or prefer an online email service like Gmail \u2013 you could end up just frustrating the visitor when they\u2019re unable to easily contact you. You can remedy this mistake by adding a contact form to your site, which has several benefits:<\/p>\n
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- A contact form allows anyone to contact you from any computer \u2013 they won\u2019t be hampered by the email program (or lack of one) on the computer they\u2019re using.<\/li>\n
- A contact form can help guide the customer who\u2019s unsure of what they need \u2013 for example, you can provide a checklist of your services and a place for questions.<\/li>\n
- A contact form lets you collect additional information from each potential customer.<\/li>\n
- Finally, a contact form lets you hide your email address from spammers.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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Your website marketing<\/a> is talking to the wrong people.<\/strong><\/p>\n
When you\u2019re first writing content for your new website, it\u2019s easy to get caught up in the idea of showing off what your company does best. But who is your website for? Is it for yourself, or your customers? Content needs to answer the question that led visitors to your site in the first place.<\/p>\n
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- Your content shouldn\u2019t focus so much on what you do. Instead, for your visitors, it should answer the question \u2018what can you do for me?\u2019<\/li>\n
- Consider your audience when finding your \u2018voice.\u2019 This includes technical savvy, sex and age, where they live, potential experience with the types of products\/services you offer and what they\u2019re expecting to find when they come to your site.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Your website\u2019s hard to find.<\/strong><\/p>\n
You own a small niche bookstore. When someone in your city Googles local bookstores, does your site show up? An investment in professional SEO (search engine optimization) and web-based marketing can help you:<\/p>\n
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- Improve your site\u2019s ranking in search results.<\/li>\n
- Get found on local search (the map that often appears in a search results page).<\/li>\n
- Learn how to make your content more relevant for your audience.<\/li>\n
- Learn how to use social media to get more exposure for your business.<\/li>\n
- Learn how to measure improvements.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
———-<\/p>\n
A website is a serious investment for any business. Use these tips to improve your site\u2019s value, credibility and usefulness \u2013 show your website some love! And in return you should begin to see more success with your business site.<\/p>\n
– Debbie<\/em><\/p>\n
- Are you unable to add or edit the site without the help of your designer, who\u2019s always too busy? Consider moving to a content management system (CMS) like WordPress. You\u2019ll be able to very easily change and add content whenever you need to.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
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