How to get your website performing well and keep it up-to-date

Let’s face it, most of us are so busy solving problems for clients that we don’t dedicate enough time to focusing on our own marketing problems. And the number one marketing problem for any company is keeping their website in top-notch condition.

A strong website needs to have:

persuasive content
robust technical build
good design
mobile friendliness
technical SEO (search engine optimisation)

Regular maintenance can improve search engine rankings

Keeping your website up-to-date and ensuring it stays effective requires more effort than simply paying for your domain name and hosting every year. There are the regular under-the-hood maintenance tasks that need to be done, like making sure your theme, plugins and links are working. You also need to be regularly adding new content to your site, in the form of news, blogs, case studies, galleries, staff profiles and testimonials. It’s no secret that Google loves fresh content, and paying a little regular attention you can help improve your search engine rankings. Don’t forget to improve or remove old content. You don’t want out-of-date material impinging on the “authority” of your site.

Here’s a plan for keeping that fresh content coming:

Look out for interesting jobs. As soon as a project is complete, gather information, images and testimonials. Use these to create case studies, fill galleries, release news and post blogs. Do this at least every two months, but preferably once a month.
When planning your case study or blog, think about the sort of problems your clients face most frequently and try to tell stories about similar problems you have solved. If you don’t have a wordsmith on hand, write the story in your own words and get a professional copywriter to wave a magic wand over your effort. They will also be adept at including the keywords that will help Google to find the piece.
Be critical of your own photography skills. A ‘snap’ on your phone is not necessarily right for your website, but may be OK for a Facebook post. Again, consider using a professional photographer. If you are taking your own photographs, take into account the format required by your website. Is it vertical, horizontal or square? Make sure your images are big enough; currently an image needed to fit a full screen width will have to be 2400px wide.
If you have other logos, graphics, etc make sure they are sharp. Often a picture that has been saved and resaved as a jpg will end up fuzzy. The quality of your words and images reflects as much about your company as the products and services you provide.
Do an annual audit of your site content. Identify any material that is no longer relevant or up-to-date and improve or remove it.

If you need a helping hand to get your website back into good shape, contact us today.