When was the last time you looked at your website through the eyes of a new customer?
For so many small businesses, once a website is set-up, very rarely will it be looked at or updated. Despite key changes the occur in a business, with services and products, many websites remain unchanged. Aside from the visual appeal of a site starting to dwindle, there are other key reasons why you need to invest a little time to update your website on a regular basis.
In this post, we explain why updating your website should be considered an integral part of marketing a small business and set-out the many benefits you will see as a direct result for your efforts.
- Secure a Great Website Address
Your website address, also known as the domain name, is often the entry point to your site. It is vital that the address makes a good impression for usability as well as for search engine optimization.
Below some points to consider when coming up with an optimal web address:
- Make it easy to spell
- Keep it short and sweet
- Avoid numbers and hyphens
- Ensure it is memorable
- Research the domain name
2. Implement the best content management system
A content management system (CMS) is software program or application that is used to create and manage digital content. A good CMS will help you maintain your site, and you don’t need much technical knowledge to use it. You should choose a CMS that is designed for your unique needs; different systems are used for different reasons, such as user-friendliness, extensibility, and budget. Examples of CMS platforms are WordPress, Drupal, Squarespace, and Wix.
3. Create an engaging and interesting website user experience (UX)
Make sure your interface leaves a positive impression that drives results. You can do so by implementing the following suggestions:
- Use beautiful graphics and easy-to-read fonts
- Use graphics that are compressed and optimized for fast loading. If your site is slow, search engines will penalize your ranking
- Research the competition to see how they have designed and optimized their websites
- Research your target audience to see what they want from your site and make it easy for them to accomplish it
- Stay consistently on brand throughout your site
- Publish easily accessible contact information
4. Regularly create and publish quality content
Both content quantity and freshness are important to search engines. Try to create a schedule to publish articles or blog posts. In order to encourage users to return to your site, update your website with new and relevant content as frequently as possible.
