I\’ve Got A Website, Now What?
By Deborah Gallant
It may have taken you months or years to get your professional website up. You slaved over the content and made sure that all your pages were tagged with metatags and keywords so it can be found on the Internet. You probably sent out an email to everyone on your list saying “look at my new website.” You might have thought you were done. Not so fast.
Your work is not over once your website is live.
First, you need to promote your site. Some ways to do this:
-Add your URL to your business card. Reprint them if needed., do not handwrite the information on your existing card, that looks cheesy. Also include the new email address at your domain.
-Create or change the signature file on your email to include your domain. This is easy to do in standard email management programs like Outlook.
-Make sure any advertising or directory listings (in print or online) contain a link to your website.
-Add your URL to your Linked In and Facebook profiles. If you do not have accounts at these social networking sites, why not start one?
-Publish articles that promote your expertise and link back to your website.
Second, you need to watch the traffic and watch what is happening on your website.
Google Analytics is a free statistics program that uses the power of the Google supercomputers to monitor all the activity on your site. Whether you use a content management system or a webmaster, make sure the correct code is installed for your whole site. Some things you might want to track:
-Overall traffic to your site
-New vs. repeat visitors
-Average time spent on your site
-Which sites refer traffic to your site
-What keywords people use to find your site
-How various marketing efforts affect your traffic
-Your bounce rate: how many people come to your site and leave immediately
Third, you need to keep your website content fresh and up to date. If you post your site and then do not touch it, both the human visitors and the search engines will quickly see that your site is not up to date. Continually visit your site and freshen it up with a Quote of the Day feature, special offers or features, post your email newsletters as you publish them.
Your website needs care and nurturing. You can not just post it and walk away and expect it to help your business.
About The Author
Deborah Gallant is an internet marketing trainer, author and business coach in Thousand Oaks, California.
Her company provides affordable website design & development tools for service professionals. Visit their website (http://www.WebPowerTools.com) for a free 30-day trial and a free copy of “Five Steps to Finally Getting Started with Internet Marketing”.
