Fresh content at your website encourages visitors, including search engines. People drop by to see what’s new and exciting, robots perk up and think, “Ah, that’s a live site that gets updated — I’d better go check it out!”
How can you get it?
- Blog. A blog is the easiest, most convenient way to refresh your site.
- Seasonal changes. Have your webmaster make changes in the look of your site to match the season. A fresh image, a timely new paragraph, even a change of icons shows that you’re keeping up to date.
- News. You don’t have to have a blog to post some new information. Company news, changes in staff, new products, or a fresh page of tips and offers can bring in some new keywords as well as encouraging your visitors to drop by more often.
To make those changes, you’ll either need to make alterations at your site by yourself, or ask your webmaster to do it. I’ve written before on the pluses and minuses of having a content management system at your website, so let’s just look at the best ways to accomplish site changes under both circumstances.
If you make your own changes, just get comfortable at making the particular changes you want to make. You don’t have to be an expert to make small changes yourself. Pay for a bit of your webmaster’s time to show you how, if you need help. But you may find that it’s easier than you think, especially if your designer sets up your site with you in mind.
If all you have to do is replace the language, it’s no harder than any other typing. Just don’t be intimidated by the fancy things around it.
If you have changes made for you, you’re probably paying by the hour. Some webmasters have arrangements where you can make a certain number of changes per month for a set fee, or allow you to buy a block of time. But time will always be the deciding factor for the cost of making changes. Save time, and therefore money, by having all your changes decided and organized before you send them in.
Don’t send this:
“I think I might want to add some new pictures, and also we need to change the prices. I’m thinking that for the new year a 3% increase across the board would be fair, since my costs have risen by just about that much, and maybe we could put in something like ‘Note new pricing, made necessary by increases in fuel costs’ but maybe we don’t have to say that especially if you change the pictures. I’ll send the new pictures later, but you could go on and change the prices. But don’t make the changes I told you about yesterday until I send you the new pictures, because I might not want them if I like the way the new pictures look.”
Send this:
“Please replace the pictures on the Product page with the attached new images.
Also replace the first paragraph on the Pricing page with this:”
and then give the new paragraph exactly as you want it. The difference in cost between these two approaches is considerable.
Leave a Reply