Web Site Maintenance

Many web site owners stop paying attention to their web sites once the sites are up and running. "Why should I change anything on my web site? Nothing about my business has changed in the past 6 months" is a common refrain. A web site is a work in progress: existing customers come to your web site from time to time to see what's new; potential customers will often visit your web site several times before actually buying from you; search engines visit your web site from time to time to refresh their indices and record any changes.

Here are the top three ways regular web site maintenance can improve your bottom line:

1. Encourage your customers to return. Visitors will stop coming to your site if they don't find any fresh content for prolonged periods. New information, on the other hand, will ensure that your web site and information about your products and services will be fresh in the minds of your customers.
2. Put your best foot forward with potential customers. When prospective customers visit your web site, they want to make sure that your business is solid so that they can shop with confidence. A recently updated web site will score extra points with potential customers and will go a long way in earning their trust.
3. Maintain your search engine rankings. Search engine spiders (software that indexes your pages) will visit your sites periodically to check for new content. Fresh content is one of the metrics search use to determine your site's search engine ranking. Sites that are never or rarely updated (and hence have potentially stale content) tend to gradually lose their rankings over time.

I can hear you thinking: "I can see how site maintenance can help my business. But where do I get fresh content?" Here are a few ideas to get you started:

1. Focus on industry news. What is happening in your industry? Interesting industry headlines can be a veritable treasure trove of fresh content. Add impact by tying news in with your products or services.
2. Identify new or improved products or services. Is your business starting a new line of products or offering a new service? Perhaps you are enhancing a product or expanding a service? Put this information on your web site and tell your visitors about it! This could be the service your next visitor is looking for!
3. Showcase awards or recognition for you or your business. Has anything happened to your business that is newsworthy? Have you been interviewed by a local newspaper or given a presentation at the local Chamber of Commerce? Tell your visitors about it!
4. Write articles that are of interest to your visitors and publish them on your web site. Make them informative and interesting to keep your visitors coming back to read more. Publish articles on a regular basis.

How often should content be updated? It depends on the information you are providing. News items should be updated often enough to remain newsworthy; industry news should be current, and articles should be written regularly. A good rule of thumb is to update something on your site at least once a month. Go ahead and try a regular web site maintenance regimen for six months — you'll be pleasantly surprised by the results!

About the author: Biana Babinsky is the online business expert who has helped many business owners attract more web site customers, bring in more online publicity and increase the bottom line. Visit http://avocadoconsulting.com/free_newsletter.html to subscribe to her newsletter full of marketing tips and ideas and join her online business coaching program at http://www.MarketingSalad.com