Moving Forward
Steps on what to do to get your new website working hard for your business and how to build a great online presence.
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1. Spread the Word
After launching your website, the most important thing to do initially is drive traffic to it. This will help Google index your site faster and start improving your SEO rankings immediately.
If your domain name is new we will submit the site to Google for indexing. Indexing can take anything from a few day to a few weeks. In the meantime, there are plenty of things you can do to drive traffic to your site.
Here are some ways to consider getting the word out after launching your website.
EMAIL NEWSLETTER
If you have a newsletter or email list, be sure to let everybody on your list know that the new website has launched, and even more importantly, how it can help their business or add value to them. Mailchimp is what we use and highly recommend. See our article on getting the maximum benefits from your email campaigns.
SOCIAL MEDIA
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.
2. Utilise Directory Listings
Creating quality backlinks to your site is important. You can start by adding your business to directories.
We can supply you with 35 or so DIY directory listings or we can even do it for you!
To get started, make sure you are on these three… they are FREE!
GOOGLE BUSINESS LISTING
A Google Business Listing is the first place to start and it’s FREE! You can add many different kinds of information – contact details, website link, service links, images, address and more. You can also have your customers and clients place reviews. More about that below.
YELLOW
You may think that Yellow is obsolete, but as a backlinking source, it’s a winner. Yellow has a high-ranking domain authority and this means good news for your website. You can also set up a basic directory listing FREE! There are paid options also.
FINDA
3. 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 to get reviews, but here are some we recommend.
GOOGLE REVIEWS
These are highly recommended. Google reviews are what pop up when somebody finds your site with an internet search. So, you’ll need a Google Business Listing. 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 your customers to leave a review on your Facebook page and have them share it. Or you could get their permission for you to share it.
TESTIMONIALS FOR YOUR WEBSITE
3. Keep Things Fresh & Updated
Launching your website is an exciting event. It’s really important to not forget about it though. Websites need attention. After your website has been live for a while, we recommend keeping it fresh, particularly if you have a site with repeat or recurring visitors. Here are some suggestions for things to do.
CHANGE OUT IMAGES
We recommend changing or updating images 1–3 times a year. If your website has a main image when you open the front page, it’s important to keep that fresh and relevant. For the repeat visitor, it shows you’re taking the time to update your site and therefore making it more valuable for them.
COLOURS & 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 colours or menu bar, or even just adjusting or adding some new graphics or 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 the wrong information on a website, or the picture of a staff member who no longer works there. Keep your website updated and streamlined to your business.
4. 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, has new blogs and content. If your site is “dead” – i.e. not being managed, updated or taken care of – it can impact your SEO ranking dramatically. Here are some options on how to build your website content.
BLOG
Blogging sounds a bit overrated and useless to a lot of people and I can understand that, but the facts are the facts – websites with blogs generally drive 30-40% more traffic to their sites than their competitors. Google will often pick up blog posts before picking up major website pages. If you can contribute good, lasting content that is well thought out and valuable to your customers, you will attract more traffic. Don’t be afraid to use social media and your network to get the word out. It really is worth having someone maintain a solid website blog to drive traffic and grow your online presence.
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, tell the world about them! Google LOVES seeing that a site is being added to. You can also repost the new services you have added your site to your social media outlets, saying that you have updated images, content, new blog posts, etc.
UPDATE YOUR 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”.
After launching your website there’s still work to do. If you would like us to look after this for you, ask for a quote.
5. 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 recommend it.
If your site isn’t protected and secured, it’s only a matter of time before there’s a breach. Our security plans let you (and us) sleep better at night knowing that your site is protected.
Optimal results take a lot of hard work.
The following is what some companies expect you to do for a guarantee.
1. Actively market your website in all online and offline media that you use, including but not limited to signage, print media, vehicles and radio/TV advertising, word of mouth.
2. Produce and send an e-newsletter, about news, events and offering your products and or services, at least once every 28 days and allow people to subscribe to it via multiple areas on your website.
3. Have a blog/articles page on your site and write at least two blog postings per week that are industry specific, being no less than 250 words each, using industry specific keywords relevant to your business at a rate of 1-3% plus include at least one correctly keyword named image (i.e. for every 100 words there should be 1 to 3 keywords included). Then submit the article url to no less than two social media websites.
4. Make best efforts in regard to maintaining and marketing your website both online and offline. You also agree to bear responsibility for the use and implementation of any training and assistance provided to you and to seek help monthly if necessary, to ensure your success.
5. Create no less than one topical YouTube video of no less than 2 minutes per month and link from the description to your website.
6. Every month obtain relevant backlinks from suppliers, wholesalers or other companies to your website and submit two industry relevant articles, that are no less than 50% original in their content, to article websites with backlinks once a week.
7. Write and submit no less than two online press releases every six months.
6. Give Your Business a Digital Boost
If you need help to improve your digital ability – either for yourself or for your business, why not register with Digital Boost.
It’s an education platform with loads of free self-paced digital resources.
No matter what your skill level, or what you want to learn, there is something for every business.
Get the Quick Start Boost to help fuel your website traffic
Or send us a testimonial, we would appreciate it very much.