Bay Area Graphics & Marketing News & Information

SPRING CLEANING?
Don't Forget to Freshen up Your Website

Spring has sprung and it's my favorite time of year in Florida. Flowers and trees are in full bloom and even the birds seem to be singing with more fervor. Even though we don't endure the hard, cold winters that our northern friends Floridian's can still get stuck in a winter rut. It's April and just last week I realized that there was a Christmas straggler hanging out in the spare room. How I could have missed packing up the big bright wooden replica of Rudolph is beyond me. Sly little bugger thought he'd avoid his annual voyage to the garage. Ha! One look and down he came, and with that came the unavoidable, relentless thought of spring Cleaning.  That dreaded thought--That dreaded JOB!  It's on just about everyone's mind this time of year. No one really wants to talk about it---or do it for that matter--- "Spring Cleaning."  Heavy sigh.

Some folks don't call it spring cleaning yet just about everyone seems to do it. Each year, the cycle is like that of the life cycle of a butterfly. (I won't go in to detail but if you think about it on your own, you'll recognize the connection.) From the closets to the garage& most people I know (and around this time of year) are taken over by some profound force that compels them to freshen up their surroundings. Out with the old, in with the new! Once accomplished, the task of going methodically from room to room sorting, scrubbing, tossing and rearranging yields great rewards. The technical name for it is called A fresh start.

After you're done with the house, including the garage, the shed and the attic and just when you think you're done, here it comes again. That monster thought. Spring Cleaning includes the office. If you own your own business, you know what I'm talking about.  It must be done. There's no way around it. The office must be cleaned in spring, as well. Oh dear, oh "drear." Just in time for April the 15 (but we won't talk about THAT here,) you realize that you're into the first quarter of 2008 and the records from 2006 are still awaiting their final eviction to storage. It must be done, and once again, the cycle continues.  You feel so good after that's all done--- you actually begin to look for other things that will create a sense of new beginnings  Oh, come on now, don't deny it---You know who you are. Article two and article three offers up some info and ideas on where to channel that energy, starting with your company website.

Cobwebs on Your Company Website?

Allow me to make a suggestion. If you have a business website, when was the last time you updated the content? "Why, should I update my website's content?" you say? Well, fresh content on your site can do wonders for Search Engine Optimization (that's your ranking on Google and Yahoo and MSN, etc.) and it also is a very nice surprise for your returning website visitors. The search engine crawlers along with your clients--- after time come to know your website quite personally and both will stand up and take notice when you add something new! You say, "Well there's nothing new about our business. it's the same today as it was five years ago." That's probably true however; fresh content or the lack of it can mean website SEO (Search Engine Optimization) failure or success. It only takes a little fine-tuning to get noticed by the crawlers and besides, you're in "that" mode.  Further, if you like the feeling of newness, so will your website visitors.

 

Alternatively, new clients may not be visiting due to poor rankings. You've done everything. You spend on Pay per Click Ads and you're listed with all of the big guys too. You may blog or list with other high ranking relevant sites. Yet, you are pulling your hair out wondering where you've gone wrong. Could be your keywords? No---Keywords are important yet they are not the most crucial part of SEO. I know, you don't believe it, but it's true. However, it could be your page titles, your page descriptions, your links---It very well could be that. It takes a professional website design and SEO firm to tell you this, and it doesn't, well-- it shouldn't cost an arm and a leg to get the job done.

(Now...on to Article 3 ) By the way, thanks Merchant Circle!

 

If I Clean it, Will They Come?

Don't clean up your website design or site content simply for the sake of SEO. Clean it up in the name of viewer interest.  What difference is good website ranking if the call to action is missing? Do you or your webmaster have what it takes to make a viewer follow through all the way to a sale? In other words, what about your bottom line? Are prospects interested in what you have to say or are you marketing for the sake of the crawler Gods?  Let's face it, they don't pay your bills, you need paying customers. Sprucing up your website may just bring them to you. "If I clean it, they will come." you ask.  Yes, if you build and maintain your website properly--- they will come and they will buy stuff!