Evolving as your business grows and changes, your website should be a living thing. The changes may be minor or more substantial, mirroring the expansion of your business and where you are in your business’ lifecycle.
Take a deep breath and follow Dorothy’s approach when she desperately wanted to return to Kansas. Rather than “there’s no place like home,” your phrase to repeat three times (and make your mantra) is:
“I will keep my website fresh“
Like a small tree in a dense forest, your website can be easily overlooked. Potential customers rely on online searches to find virtually everything today, and search engines use complex and ever-shifting algorithms to determine which sites to serve up in search results. Newer sites and those without robust content don’t rank as well. To attract the attention of search engines, become more visible to potential customers and grow your business, deliberate and consistent efforts are needed — both for your website and your entire online presence.
Ease on down the road
Getting into the rhythm of forward motion with your business development, consider whether you’re ready to take some of the following steps:
- Graduate from a single page or starter website to a professionally developed site
- Expand your About page to include client case studies or your great new headshot
- Improve your credibility with an online reviews app or a testimonials display widget
- Integrate with an analytics platform to track your site traffic, referrals and visitor data
- Launch a blog with subscribe functionality to receive notifications of new posts
- Offer online registration for your podcasts, webinars or workshops
- Refine, bolster or package your service offerings
- Become more accessible through online chat or an appointment scheduling app
- Develop downloadable content such as a resource guide or eBook
- Expand your eCommerce capability with an integrated shopping cart
Perhaps your business has been around for a while and you’ve already tackled many of the above initiatives. A key next step in your website’s evolution involves optimizing your website for search. Adding original, fresh and pertinent content provides positive signals to search engines that your site is relevant and credible.
Frequently Asked Questions – signposts along the yellow brick road
To get started, think about questions a target customer might ask and consider how your business supports the implied needs. Then craft both the frequently asked question and a succinct, well-articulated response — with customer-centric, understandable phrasing that’s void of tech speak.
As the leader of your business, developing a list of frequently asked questions should be a pretty straightforward endeavor. While some frequently asked questions involve practical matters such as the working relationship between the client and the company or returns processing for purchased goods, your FAQs have a higher purpose. They demonstrate that you have the skills and solutions to overcome your customers’ problems or frustrations.
Not sure where to start? Seize the opportunity to offer useful guidance and information by anticipating and responding to a customer’s needs — before they even ask the question. Review those service packages you’ve painstakingly developed and consider how you can rework them into frequently asked questions.
Once you’ve added the FAQs, what’s next? Gather your courage and raise the bar on your off-page SEO by repurposing those FAQs into status updates for social media. You’ll be over the rainbow in no time.
Want a guiding hand? We’re happy to help.
This post was previously published on OnlineAmplify.com
and has been refreshed for relevance.
Excellent advice!! Thank you.