Fresh as a Daisy!
Some business owners are sadly under the impression that once a website for their company has been designed, constructed and optimised, then it will run itself, so all they have to do is sit back and wait for the money to come rolling in.
However, that is not often the case at all.
Given, for the first few months as your site is indexed by the search engines, and visitors click on it from links that you’ve wisely placed far and wide across the internet, your traffic figures will rise, but to attract both fresh and repeat custom, you must update it regularly. The reasons for this are three-fold; firstly, search engines like sites that grow steadily as they are regularly updated with new content- a high rate of activity indicates that the website is reliable, current and useful; secondly, first time customers to the site searching for a specific product or service want to see the most modern versions available, and to stay ahead in your industry, it is your duty as a small business to provide the most relevant and recently released goods. Thirdly, if you’re staying up to date with changes and developments in your industry, this will be noted by customers who are then more likely to return for a second visit, and thus possibly a second purchase. So in a nutshell, staying updated keeps your stock and services modern and relevant and attracts first time customers who are more likely to return again.
If you are the proud owner of an ecommerce site, we recommend dedicating an hour a day of your busy schedule updating, by adding new text, images, offers, services and the like. Spend some time researching what’s going on in your industry- what are your competitors doing? Are there any new services, products, materials or events that you could use on your own site? Find out what your top twenty best selling products are, and double check the images and descriptions. Are there more recent images that would be better suited? Can you afford to run a promotion on any of those lines, and if so, you need to get it updated across your social networking profiles once you have set it all up on your own site.
If you have been taking our advice so far, you will have a rather impressive network of social networking profiles already set up and ticking away nicely- in the very least you should have a Facebook Page and a Twitter account. If there’s a big event in your industry, such as a business fair and you’re attending, then create a Facebook event, and advertise that both on your Facebook Page and your website.
Remember to update your Twitter account too, and it’s worth noting that there are various free programs available online that will allow you to write and schedule status updates on your Twitter feed. This is especially useful if you have set up our Twitter status to update your Facebook Page status automatically- killing the metaphorical two birds with one stone.
Also remember that every time you update your newsfeed on Twitter and Facebook, your new status will appear in the newsfeed of everyone who is either a fan of your page (Facebook) or following you (Twitter). This means that posting five updates in a row may attract some traffic, but posting five with an hour in between each stands more chance of being effective.
Blanket bombing the newsfeed anywhere will lead people into thinking that you’re rude, and in some cases, a faceless spambot, but by taking your time with your updates you can let your followers know what’s happening in your business without harassing anyone and getting your message across.
Using automated Twitter status programs which allow you to decide what time you want each update to go out ensure that you don’t have to blanket bomb the newsfeed but will still be able to publish a steady flow of updates.
Also, if you have been using your company blog and that too is set to update the Notes application on your Facebook Page, then that’s the ideal place to discuss any new offers and promotions that you’re doing. If you have had any press releases published recently, post those on your Notes too, and if you’ve been lucky enough to be mentioned in trade journals or the press, be sure to scan in a copy of the article and publish it not only your Facebook Page Notes but also on your main site too.
The name of the game here is to keep everything- your website, your products, offers and promotions as recent and relevant as possible. This is then advertised across your social networking profiles to not only attract fresh traffic but to reinforce the fact that your website is head and shoulders above the rest in regard to the latest developments within your particular industry.