Request a Quote

Thank you for reaching out to us! Please fill out and submit the form below and we will get back to you as soon as we are able to. Existing clients may Contact Us online or submit a Support Request.

Your Contact Information

What Services are you interested in?

Project Schedule

Additional Information

5 Easy Ways to Make Your Website More Effective
Nov 24,
2010
5 Easy Ways to Make Your Website More Effective
So you have a great looking website but you are looking for ideas to generate more traffic? I've decided to share with you five easy ways to make your website more effective, to not only increase traffic but retain traffic.

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.

# 1: Make sure people know about your website!

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?

  • Make sure the website address (Domain Name) is printed clearly on your business card, signage, and any other marketing material.  Find your Domain Name here.
  • Make sure you remind people to take a look at your website to get more information about your business or to keep up with you.
  • At the end of a meeting, presentation, or phone call make sure you remind potential customers or clients to look at your website for more information.

# 2: Keep Your Website Up-to-Date!

Graphical Aide: Scale of Time vs. Money

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.

Here are some things that you should update regularly:

  • News or Press Releases:  Anytime you have an announcement, official press release, or anything relevant to your customer base or industry, you should post it to your website.
  • Sales, Specials, Discounts:  If you are in a retail or service business you should always let visitors to your website know about any special pricing you have to offer, including coupons or discounts available.
  • Events:  If you participate in or host community or business events make sure you let people know!  Tell them enough in advance so they can plan for your event and then remind them as the event draws near.  You can easily do this on your website through an events calendar.
  • Photos/Videos:  If you have a photo gallery or video gallery make sure you keep it updated with fresh photos and videos.  People love photos and videos so keep them excited by introducing new content weekly or monthly.

# 3: Take Advantage of FREE Marketing Tools

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!

Here are a few suggested places to market your website (did I mention they're all FREE?):

# 4: Don't Let Your Content Get Stale

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!

# 5: Blogging!

 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. 

Your blog should not be a sales bulletin. 

Some tips for healthy business blogging:

  • Share your expertise, be helpful.
  • Let people know what's going on in your business and/or industry.
  • Keep your blogs short and to the point
  • Stay connected with your audience and stay on topic!
  • Read the blog back to yourself before you post it - maybe get some outside opinions before publishing it.

 

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!

 

Tim Bradshaw
Founder & CEO
Tim Bradshaw is the Founder and CEO of Insercorp LTD.
Leave a Comment!

Comments

Your comment has been successfully submitted and will be posted when reviewed and approved.
User Comments
Google Icon
Youtube Icon
Linkedin Icon
Pinterest Icon
Instagram Icon
Contact Icon