Mistakes To Avoid After The Launch Your New Website- Part 2
Last week we discussed some top level practices to avoid so that your website continues to drive traffic and generate sales. Let’s dive deeper into why those practices are bad news for both your website and your business in general.
Often times business owners are like children getting a new toy. Upon launch they are like “Hey guys, look at my sparkly new toy!” then get busy and forget all about it the following week. But the best thing you can do for your business growth is absolutely to make and keep a plan to maintain and market your website properly.
When it comes to running your business website, here is a quick breakdown on what NOT to do and what you SHOULD do instead!
Website Updates
What Not To Do:
When it comes to making changes to the content on your site, such as new blog posts or adding additional information do NOT to have an inexperienced person make website updates. This is by far one of the worst things you can do because not only does it end up looking unprofessional, it can give the impression that you are not a reputable business.
What you should do:
Create a plan for how updates should be made either by your designer or someone who can be trained to make those updates for you. Make sure that a consistent format for your text font and headlines is used at all times and be sure to stick to brand guidelines when adding styles and imagery.
Content Updates
What Not To do:
After launching your website, don’t neglect to have your content maintained and regularly updated. Outdated contact information, store hours, pricing or services, will give the impression that your website is abandoned or irrelevant. There is nothing worse than seeing a businesses hours on their website only to find out they are closed when you get there.
What you should do:
Plan and prepare regular content updates on a calendar and stick to them. Be sure that the plan you create is manageable for you and your team. Updating less frequently is ok as long as it is on a regular basis. If you can commit to 2 posts a week rather then 5 and stick with it, you will be ahead. Also, be sure to regularly check over your website for outdated information and things that should be updated like store hours, pricing etc.
Questions, Comments or Feedback
What Not To do:
Don’t ignore user submitted questions. Often times your customers or potential customers will fill out a contact form hoping to be answered right away or relatively soon, but your business never responds. That is not only frustrating to a potential customer, they will likely go elsewhere. Or another scenario is they take the time to leave you a review or provide you with constructive feedback and you fail to respond. This looks very unprofessional and will not encourage new customers to use your products or services. Again, they will go elsewhere.
What you should do:
Encourage your audience to leave feedback and reviews, but be sure to follow up by answering them so that others can see you value their feedback. Follow a consistent format for answering and designate someone to monitor all avenues where customers may be leaving feedback so that you can respond in a timely fashion.
