Tend Your Analytics and SEO
Your Web site’s analytics software holds the keys to staying on top of how your site is viewed and used by visitors and customers, sales, reach – essential hard data to track your online performance.
Whether you maintain your Web site alone or with help, know this:
- It seems logical that registering with a slew of search engines will make it easier for customers to find you. But one-size-fits-all may not be the most effective approach for your business type. Check your analytics to see which engines are getting the most hits, and which are doing nothing.
- Once you review this data, register with any search engines that clearly target your business audience.
- Consider adding site-tracking technology that shows what users are doing in real time. Knowing this allows you to make pinpoint-targeted special offers and information.
- If you’ve found SEO management to be more than you can handle, hire a specialist to do it for you (see Step 8).
Add New Content and Links
As your company grows, improves and evolves, your Web site will need to keep pace:
- When you hire new team members, promptly add their profiles to your “About Us” page and make any other necessary changes to the lineup.
- Call out new additions to your product or service lines on the home page, and includes links to them.
- Whenever you add new content to your Web site, test the affected pages to be sure they’re optimized for peak performance.
- Don’t forget to update your site map after any changes.
- Always watch for opportunities to secure external links from other relevant sites.
Constantly Promote Your Web Site
Drive traffic to your online business home with regular promotional campaigns and strategies. This is limited only by your creativity and imagination, but start with these well-tested methods:
- Discount programs are easy and effective. Use them as you would any direct-mail campaign. Creating urgency with “Today Only” and other limited-time offers is especially effective.
- Offer “Family and Friends” incentives.
- Set up a schedule of online and targeted e-mail newsletters. Include columns by staffers, company news, promotions – anything to lure customers back to your site – with links to get them there.
- Consider adding a podcast to your site, with an RSS link so your visitors and customers can subscribe to regular feeds.
Reconsider Ads
If you haven’t tried any form of online advertising (see Step 10) and you’re disappointed with your early Web site results, reconsider.
Besides potentially costly search engine ads, there are alternatives – often free. Some examples are Superpages.com, Citysearch.com and Yellowpages.com.
You can also buy ad space on sites that attract an audience you want to reach. Online ads can cost as little as a few dollars per placement, or thousands if the site has heavy traffic.