Almost any website can be built to look “just right” initially, but as time marches on, your site visitors will desire new material. If you truly want to make your site a “resource” website for your visitors, you need engaging content. Not just now, but tomorrow, next week, next month, next year…
That’s where most good websites go flat. They don’t deliver in the long term. This post will hopefully provide some insight, and also some solutions.
Most companies cannot afford to hire an in-house web/marketing/SEO department, don’t have the budget for a quality outside firm, and can’t wait for “cheap” jobs to get completed by freelancers with too many existing projects. Most companies get the website built, then underestimate the amount of work required to keep the content current. The result is a website that rarely has return visitors and suffers in Search Engine Results. A downward spiral that eventually reduces your website to the effectiveness of a brochure that is still in the box of brochures, in the office storage room.
Our solution is the Domino Paradigm. Build and arrange the website, blog and social networking so they can stay “fresh” with a minimum of fuss. Arrange the “dominoes” one time. Arrange them so you only need to knock down one domino, and all the others fall in their prearranged pattern.
The use of RSS feeds, both incoming and outgoing, can help you set up your website dominoes.
One easy example is to have an industry or news resource RSS feed displaying into a module or sidebar of your website. Without having to do anything, that part of your website will have dynamic content from those reliable sources. Hopefully, your visitors will appreciate being able to find all the relevant information in one spot… Your website! However, it can’t stop there. You need to bring something to the table….
Another example is how your static website, a blog and your social networking accounts can interact and expand your network. Using the blog to easily publish and display your expertise provides great dynamic content for your visitors, and the search engines. If you set it up correctly, the act of knocking over that one domino (publishing a new blog post), can then knock down many more, like:
- Automatically posting a new “Tweet” to your twitter account, along with a short URL link back to the new blog post you just created. That URL can even be tracked in realtime, by creating an account with a URL shortening service like Bit.ly.
- Automatically add a new title back on your main website’s “Latest from our blog” section.
- Automatically send a short email to your subscriber list. Something short and sweet, with an excerpt of the new blog post, along with a link back to the actual article on your site.
- Automatically push a new “Status Update” to your Facebook or Facebook “Fan” Page, along with a link back to your new blog post.
One domino knocks all the others over. You just need to arrange them properly, in advance. One action (a new blog post) can result in more traffic to your website, more followers waiting for what you have to say next, and of course more Google, Yahoo and MSN/Bing visibility, which will then bring you even MORE visitors, and the cycle then repeats. An upward spiral!
You do one thing, and an automatic cycle begins. This leaves you free to run your business and take care of the new customers your website brings you. Spend less time, and knock over more dominoes.
If you would like a free review of your current website, call us at 214-356-4700 or Contact Us. We’d love to talk about making your website more efficient and productive.
