Moving Forward
Steps on what to do with your new website and how to build a great online presence.
Protect Your Website
Over 50% of all web traffic is currently spammers, bots, malware and hackers. If you haven’t already joined with us in protecting your website, we highly, highly recommend it. You can find out more as to why here, but the fact is that sites are getting hacked left and right these days. And most of the time, for no reason more than a hacker thousands of miles away just happening to find a way in or a web spider that got through a hosting company’s firewall, etc.
If your site isn’t protected and secured, it’s only a matter of time before there’s a breach. Our security plan lets you (and us) sleep better at night knowing that your site is protected.
Ask For Reviews
Online reviews are more important than ever. Particularly for businesses being googled and found online, a user will look at reviews almost immediately. There are many different ways and platforms on ways to get reviews, but here are some we recommend:
- Google Review – this is highly recommended as google reviews are generally what will pop up when somebody finds your site with an internet search. You can either have your customers google your business, then leave a review OR you can use this site to generate a direct link: https://supple.com.au/tools/google-review-link-generator. It’s super handy 😉
- Facebook Reviews – FB reviews are also great and are now a more reputable spot for customer reviews. Don’t be afraid to ask for your customers to leave a review on your Facebook page and have them share it. Or get their permission for you to share it.
Keep Things Fresh
After your website has been live for awhile, we recommend doing some things to keep it fresh. Particularly if you have a site with repeat or recurring visitors. Here are some suggestions:
- Colors/Layout – if your site has been sitting for more than a year or so, it’s strongly recommended that you do something to spice it up. Whether it’s making some cosmetic changes to the action colors or menu bar, or even just adjusting or adding some new graphics/images. Keeping your site fresh is a GREAT way to keep people coming back.
- Keep Your Information Updated – if information, staff, hours or services change for your business, be sure to change the website too! There’s nothing worse than having wrong information on a website. Or have a staff member’s picture on the page who doesn’t work there anymore. Keep your website updated and streamlined to your business.
Build Site Content
A website is viewed by google as being “alive” or “dead.” An “alive” site is driving traffic, getting new and existing users, being updated, posting new blogs and content. If your site is “dead” – e.i. not being managed, updated or taken care of – it can impact your SEO ranking dramatically. Here’s some options on how to build your website content:
- New Pages – it’s generally good practice to not only update your images and graphics, but also your content! If you have more services to add to your site, do it! Google LOVES seeing that a site is being built on to. You can also repeat the steps above by reposting your site to your social media outlets and saying that you have updated images, content, new blog post, etc.
- Updated Content – if things in your industry change or your services change, be sure to update your site accordingly. Even adjusting content by a few words can show google that your site is being worked on and is again…”alive”.
Spread The Word
When your website goes live, the most important thing to do initially is drive traffic to it. This will help google index it faster and start improving your SEO rankings immediately. Here are some ways to consider getting the word out:
- Social Media – use your network of Facebook friends, family or co-workers to get the word out. You’d be surprised how far one post can go when it’s shared and liked. Also, if you’re active on Linked In, Instagram or other socials, share away!
- Word of Mouth – word of mouth is still the most powerful referral. If you’re as excited as we are when your site launches, tell those around you! Get their opinion and see what they think about your new online presence. That’s valuable feedback that may come in handy when considering changes and additions to the site moving forward.
