After launching your site with great fanfare, there’s usually a honeymoon period, when you feel great about the webdesign, until, that is your enthusiasm begins to wane.
It’s at this point, that you need to consider what you can do to keep your website relevant, dynamic and fresh.
If you are an entrepreneur about to build your first site, you can avoid ever reaching this point, by having a webdesign plan in place in advance of going live.
Keeping your website relevant, dynamic and fresh is not just for your benefit…
- It’s the key to increasing visibility through the search engines which look for new content on sites they have already indexed.
- It can keep repeat visitors interested ensuring they check back for updates.
- More subtly, for potential customers who may visit your site 2-3 times before making a purchase decision, it will potentially increase your sales, because they will be assured you are a live company operating and trading.
The following tips will help established website owners facing the challenge of making website content interesting and helpful.
1. Create an update plan and checklist.
With the profusion of free software solutions (i.e. plug-ins) on the Internet, you can spend a short amount of time making small changes. A checklist can help you to keep track of webdesign improvements. Check them off as you go.
2. Review past emails and web postings from customers.
Are there any, offering crucial feedback that you have missed?
3. Revisit the colour scheme and graphics displayed on your website.
You might not want to change your online business logo, but you might want to rearrange visual elements. Colour, and font changes are easy to make when you have some spare time.
4. How well are your calls to actions positioned?
The middle centre, and middle right of a website are considered to be prime real estate, so make sure you only position the most important calls to action there. For more information read this article on “calls to action”.
5. Revise your content for continuity errors.
For example, if you change website policies in one part of the site, you might have to update information in the forum or on the frequently asked questions (FAQ) page.
6. Look for spelling and grammar errors, and information that is not written clearly.
Do this with the following question in mind: “Can the average adult understand your website content?” If you are unsure of your ability to do this, then ask someone who you know has a high standard of written English to do it for you.
7. Adapt other software technologies.
In the age of Web 2.0, look to other types of businesses for web content ideas. You can often make minor changes to existing software, including open source software, without having to invest time and money in writing a new application for your business.
8. Outsource updates for your website design.
There are certain tech labour markets (especially in Asia) that offer qualified computer professionals to upgrade your website or create a whole new design in a short amount of time. Outsourcing is often the best solution, for cost effective time management.
9. Think before you leap.
Before daring to strike out into unknown site features and designs, think carefully about each proposed site improvement and decide if it will truly benefit your customers. Some online business owners prefer to research what competitor websites are doing, and other business owners try something new because they want to establish trends instead of following them.
Updating your site with improved content and services creates a better web environment for your audience. Use your free time to read what other online business owners are doing and you are sure to be inspired with lots of new webdesign ideas.
If you found this post on webdesign and website content useful, please share it by bookmarking it with the icons below. I would also love to read your comments, please add them to the comments section. Thank you very much for your time.
Recent Comments