Time for a Year-end Marketing Tune-Up
The hustle and bustle of Christmas is over and we’re about to embark on a New Year. That’s always a reason to renew commitments, hope, enthusiasm, and all the other good things that go into making a fresh start.
If you’re in business, it’s also a good reason to reflect on the past year’s marketing efforts and begin to implement necessary changes to make the New Year brighter. (Or, EVEN brighter if you’re already doing well!)
Look at what you did, where you spent your dollars, and the results you saw from those efforts.
Commit to doing more of what worked while you eliminate or repair what didn’t work.
Today, your website is a vital link and should be the hub of all you do – on line or off line. This is the place where customers and clients can come to learn more about you and what you offer. It’s the place that affords you all the space you need to showcase your products or your services, or both.
Even if you’re a small-town merchant or service provider, you need a website.
But it has to be done well, or it won’t help you at all.
If you already have a website, give it a critical eye this week and make the necessary changes. If you don’t have one yet, get busy with finding a good URL and getting going.
Check out these 5 Secrets to Effective Web Copy before you get started.
Then, wander around the web a bit and look at your competitors. Which of their sites is easy to navigate and pleasant to use? Which sites are irritating? And why are they irritating?
Often it’s because there’s too much clutter or the navigation links are confusing and unclear. Sometimes they take too long to load because they added flash and video and way too many graphics.
Capture ideas from the sites you like – and make note of the elements you didn’t like, so you don’t get talked into repeating those mistakes.
While you’re at it, look at sites for products or services different from yours – some of the best ideas come from other industries.
One more thing…
Before you stop working on your website, do the final step: Check your links. Every one of your links. It is unbelievably easy to make a mistake creating those links, and it makes you look bad when people keep coming up with “page not found” errors.
You have just over 3 days to whip your website into shape… so do it!
P.S. If you have trouble getting that web copy to come out right, get in touch… web copy is what I do.
Posted: December 28th, 2009 under advertising, marketing, web copy, web copywriter, web copywriting, web marketing, web page building, web pages.
Tags: advertising, marketing, web copy, web marketing, web pages