Websites. Your company has one. Well - it should. And so does every other reputable company. According to websitesetup.org, there are over 1.7 billion web-sites today in 2021. That's one site for every four people on the planet. How do you separate yourself from the pack? How do you stay up to date on all the changes? Here are 10 reasons you should update your business or money making site today to keep your website out of the dark age.
1. Get up to date with a refresh - When was the last time you updated or reworked the design of your company website? Business2community.com recommends you update your site every 18 to 30 months. Remember that in most cases, your website is the first thing or media or product your customers and clients will see. Website design changes rapidly. If you developed your site in 2015, your focus was probably producing the best desktop experience possible. In 2021 and beyond, mobile is king. If you haven't updated your site in 2 or more years, you may want to do a redesign or hire a digital marketing firm to do so. How do you stop being outdated? Contact a digital marketing or web design company.
2. Getting found on Google and other search engines - How does your customer find you? The number one way customers and clients search for a company and - especially a new company- is of course search engines. Google holds the majority share, with Bing coming in a distant second. So how do you get found? SEO, PPC, SEM? What do all of these acronyms mean? In a nutshell, you better be ready and on top of your search engine attack plan. SEO is Search Engine Optimization. SEO is the act of setting up keywords, content, and structure in your site to help your site show up on Google and Bing. PPC is short for Paid Per Click. You hire a company such as Facebook or Google and you pay them for every click they send to your site. SEM is Search Engine Marketing. It's the latest grab word in the marketing industry. SEM is when you combine PPC and SEO in one strategy. With SEM, the goal is to quickly jump up SERP (search engine results pages) while also organically growing. You can test how well your SEO is working with Google Console for no cost.
3. Content, Content, Content. Did I mention content? - The old adage was location, location, location. Now its content, content, content. Content is critical in today's world. If you don't have a blog, you are already on your way to becoming obsolete. Blogs are easily created through almost all website design platforms. If you have a company managing your site, ask them to set up an easy to update blog on your website. On top of a blog, Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok, LinkedIn are all necessary components to keeping up with the Jones's. If it makes sense, develop a Youtube site as well. You can really show who you are as a company through video. Later on in this article, you can also learn how to make more money with Youtube. The more content you have, the more opportunities you can be found. All the big companies are buying up content. Disney, Netflix, Universal, have all spent hundreds of millions of dollars to buy and develop new content. Follow their lead and put out tons of content. Make sure the content is good. Your content reflects your brand which reflects your company.
4. Connect to your audience - Who is your audience? Is it young adults 24 - 35? "Stroller" Mothers of children ages 2-4? Men who live alone with their dogs and eat pizza on Tuesdays? Okay maybe not the last one. With a revamped website, though, you can
find out who your audience is and conquer your niche. Today's tracking tools are incredible. Google Analytics is widely regarded as one of if not the best website data tools. Google Analytics is free. Google Analytics provides detailed reporting of everything that is happening with your site from a visitor stand point. With it or a similar tool, you can instantly get feedback from your website. Business owners can see who is and, more importantly, who is not visiting their website. In turn, you can market to those specific demographics that you need to engage with Pay Per Click marketing.
5. Stay ahead of your competitors - Competition online has never been greater. 1.7 billion websites are fighting for your customer or clients attention. Tomorrow it will be tougher to get those same customers than today. Your competition is investing money and time in upgrading their website. Digital marketing spending is increasing in most industries. Your competition is likely to be upping their game.
They are adding more functionality and options for their customers. In every way they can, they will make it simpler for your customers to switch to them. The arms race is in full effect. Make sure you are stockpiling your arsenal.
6. Secure your website and your customers - Hackers will find a way. If your site isn't up to date in regards to security, someone will find out. A little understood fact is that updates are created to prevent vulnerabilities that have already been discovered. If you don't update, you are at risk. With rising identity theft (https://giact.com/identity/us-identity-theft-the-stark-reality-2/), web sites must be fortified. According to Giact (https://giact.com/identity/us-identity-theft-the-stark-reality-2/) 47% US citizens were a victim of identity theft in 2020. With recent changes to PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards), you could be responsible for each and every card that is stolen. The fine is up to $5000 per card the is compromised. Keep up to date on your website updates especially if your website is developed on WordPress.
7. Mobilization -
As stated before, mobile devices are taking over. In the past websites were built desktop first. If you were lucky, mobile optimization was added for a large fee. Today, mobile sites are often built first and desktop is now secondary. Statista.com estimates that there are 15 billion mobile devices. That's two devices for almost every single human on the planet. That number will likely only increase. More people access the internet on mobile devices than on classic desktops. 2 to 1 actually. Perficient.com says 68% of web usage is via mobile devices. Design your site with a mobile first goal.
8. Make more money in more ways -
Content, content, content? Turn your content into dollars. With a new website, you have many, many options. You can advertise other companies on your site. You can do affiliate marketing on your site and on some social media accounts. You can sell your blog content. Create a Youtube channel. Once you get 4000 hours of viewing and a certain number of subscribers, you can request to monetize your channel as well.
And then there's eCommerce. Offer your products and services online. There are several options to add your product online for free or relatively cheap. It has never been easier to add a store to your site.
Amazon is the biggest company in the world for a reason. Well, maybe two. Convenience and technology.
9. Consistently show off - Ensure your brand meets your company goals and standards. Branding shows your potential customer and clients who you are and what you stand for. If you created a website in 2011, your customer will probably think your company is a dinosaur. Unless you are going for nostalgia, I don't recommend this route. With today's tools, you can also easily integrate your branding across multiple platforms in one location. Many sites allow you to post to your social accounts directly from your website account. Brand consistency shows who you are and gives your clients an idea of the level of work you provide. Digital Marketing Agencies can assist you in developing a brand standards document which contains everything from your colors to the fonts you should use and when.
10. Simplify your business - Another win-win situation for you and your customers. As a country, American citizens typically want things to be simple and easier. Companies are following that trend and making operations simpler while also increasing guest experience. Dentists, for example, can book new patients online, fill out paperwork, book appointments, and make payments all online. If your company can't, chances are your customers are looking for companies who can. Don't fall behind. Keep up with the ever changing technological landscape.
In the end you need to be invested in your online presence. If you have the tools, time, and resources to pull it off - fantastic. If not, you may be surprised at how cheap you can have many, if not all, of these suggestions done for you by a digital marketing firm or agency. The return on investment will be well worth it and can really lighten the load on your shoulders.
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