Why is it important to retain traffic? Simple: The more users you have returning to your website, the more likely they are to utilize your products or services.
It's extremely important for any business or organization that has a website to make sure people know about it. What are some easy ways to do this?
If you have a content management system (such as iPlasmaCMS, Joomla, WordPress, etc) that makes it easy to update your website, make sure you use it! You should keep your website updated with fresh content on a regular basis. Make it a habit, put it in your schedule, or assign the task to one of your employees.
Sure it may seem like it takes time, but think about time as your investment. Keeping your website up-to-date not only tells your customers or clients what you've been up to but it also lets potential customers or clients know that you are active. Furthermore it will help your search engine rankings because the major organic search engines (such as Google, Bing, Yahoo!) will rank websites higher if they are updated more frequently.
Social Media tools such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc. are free to setup and use. You should regularly make posts on your Facebook Fan Page or your Twitter account to let people know about updates or changes made to your website. It's easy to insert a link to the page that has been updated. Think of social media as your community relations tool: Keep the general public informed of what's going on with your business or organization by keeping them updated through the networks, but don't forget to insert a link to your website so they can find out more!
It is important that you should periodically review the content of your website. Take a few minutes to read through each page on your website. Look for little mistakes like spelling or grammatical errors. Make sure your sentences flow and that there is no out-of-date information (such as contact information, staff bios, etc). It's okay to rewrite content from time to time - in fact the search engines like this!
If you feel like your content is lacking, you may want to consider having a professional content writer put your content together for you. Sure, this costs more than doing it yourself but you may be surprised at how big of a difference it is when someone else writes your content for you!
If you have a blog on an external website or on your own website, make sure you keep it updated. Blogging doesn't cost a penny, it just takes time and persistence to make it part of your routine. You should keep your blog updated at least once every 1-2 weeks...don't overdo it!
I highly recommend that you keep your blogs professional and courteous. For business and professional blogs, you should refrain from getting into political or religious debate. Remember you are representing yourself *and* your business or organization.
Some tips for healthy business blogging:
These are just a few helpful tips to make your website more effective. If you invest in a tool you should make use of it!