End of Year Review
It's always a good idea to take an hour or two to do a thorough review of your website's status and content. I've compiled a list of items that I think should have priority. In this economy we are all looking for the edge and that means you probably have adapted to remain competitive. Even if you've been able to remain successful and stable - you'll still need simple year end updates such as changing your copyright date.
End of Year
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Content. Go through the website and make sure that all your important content is correct especially contact information, prices, dates. Get rid of services you don't provide and make sure the latest are up-to-date.
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Photos. Review your photos. Do you need new ones? Call the photographer (or ask for a good camera for Christmas). Do you have license to use the stock photography on your site (better be sure)? Do your photos reflect the image you want to project?
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Layout. Using the most up-to-date browser you can get your hands on double check that your site still displays the way it should. Are there any glaring errors? Any content overlapping photos? Funny little characters instead of quotations? Browsers keep evolving and the older your site is the more likely it is to need some tweaks to the code.
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Function. Do all your forms work? Send yourself a message using the contact form or try to order a gift certificate.
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Third Party Services. Have you renewed all of the content providing services your website relies on? When are they due? Get ready and plan today.
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Basics. Don't forget your copyright date needs to be updated. Nothing screams "OUT OF DATE" like a copyright for 2008 when it's almost 2011! (If you use the Website Builder tool all you'll have to do is "Publish All" on January 1. The builder will update the copyright date for you.)
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Traffic and Search Engines. Take a 12 month look at your website statistics. What stands out? Did your traffic peak when it should have? Did any on or off line advertising give you a big spike? Did it correspond with an increase in sales, contacts or new business?
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Links. Time to test the links on your website. Remove all outdated or dead links.
Recently Asked Questions
Widgets: Various content providers offer automated widgets that will update your website with "relevant" content and no effort on your part.
Google News and Search Tools can make a content driven website survive even when your imagination is at a low point. Often, Google Maps are the best way to display a map to your business. They are easy to use, look good and your visitor probably is already familiar with their interface.
Weather.com has handy little page inserts that you can customize. They work great if you offer a year round service. However, if you are selling a summer service that requires summer weather to get clients excited - don't use a weather gadget displaying winter temps and blizzard warnings. Sales are often subliminal!
Facebook gadgets from a simple Like button can give any of your webpages into the equivalent of a Facebook page. This means when a user clicks a Like button on your page, a connection is made between your page and the user. Your page will appear in the "Likes and Interests" section of the user's profile, and you have the ability to publish updates to the user. Your page will show up in same places that Facebook pages show up around the site (e.g. search), and you can target ads to people who like your content.
These are just the most obvious widgets. Remember the basic rule for any addition to your website. It's all about your visitor and their experience, ie.dont put a horoscope gadget on a webpage that is for a funeral service.
Billing: Thanks to all the compliments on the new PDF invoices. If I can make it easier for you in any way - I sure will. Remember you can go directly to www.paypal.com and send payment using credit cards or PayPal to jomarie@akalt.net. If you prefer to receive a paypal invoice, just let me know. Checks should be written to JoMarie Thomson and mailed to 11300 Willene Drive, Anchorage, AK 99516.Outgoing Email: A few clients had problems last month when the ubiquitous SORBS.net's database included one of our server's ip addresses. Although SORBS has been spastic and unreliable for a long time, many companies continue to use their RBL. The SORBS system was down for nearly two weeks and I couldn't even file a request to be delisted!. However, they are back up and the ticket has been accepted for review. This is a good reminder though - if you need to send out mass emails you should be using a service that specializes in that service such as ConstantContact.com.
Search Engine Stuff
Google Local - If your website signed up for Google Local, make sure you return the postcard verifying your ownership. Google will not list you without it!
Website Metatags - Take a look at your website's sitemap. If all you see are linked page titles then you've been forgetting to add descriptions to each page. If you use one of my Website Builders, you can add your descriptions by clicking to Edit Page > Metatags. Search term rich descriptions can make a big difference in search engine performance.