Staying Fresh On The Web

Staying fresh on the web

By: Icemedia

Some organisations develop and build a website and think their work on the web is done, at least until the next major update in a few years. But getting a website live is not the end of the process – it’s really just the beginning. 

Why staying fresh is important

In business, image is very important. Many things contribute to your organisation’s image: your shopfront, store or office; your vehicles; your staff; your advertising and other communications. All of these things contribute to how your organisation is perceived in the marketplace.

Your website is also an important part of your business image. And as more and more people choose to interact with organisations via the web, it’s more important than ever that your web presence represents the image your organisation wants to portray.

If customers are going to spend time looking at your website and visiting it more than once, they want up to date content and regular new information. 

A website that’s regularly updated should perform better in the search engines. So a fresh website should not only provide a better experience, it should also attract more customers and in turn better contribute to your business goals.

Getting the basics right

Your web statistics will tell you the pages on your site that are most visited. Most likely your homepage will be the one with the most visits. This is the face of your website and a vital tool to get people to the content they are looking for. A poorly structured homepage may be the reason other pages on your site aren’t performing. So it’s very important that you keep it well structured, up to date, and that you regularly refresh the content.

Nothing looks worse than ‘news’ that’s really ‘olds’ – articles and announcements of things that happened ages ago. Or worse still, special offers or event announcements for things that have long since passed.

Take a look at the structure and content of your homepage and then think of it from a customer’s point of view. Is this the information they are looking for – or is it just what you want to tell them? What could you tell them that would be of genuine interest? And what elements can be updated regularly? If you would like to have customers visit your site regularly, then it’s important that the homepage doesn’t look the same every time they visit.

Have a look at the other most visited pages on your site. Do you want to encourage customers to visit these pages regularly? If so, what areas will need to be updated and changed in order to attract repeat visits? Once again, the structure of these pages may not be right for regular updates and you may need to address this. 

Which pages on your site do you want customers to visit but they are not visiting? Think about how you could keep the content fresh on these pages so you can attract repeat visitation.  More importantly, review your site’s architecture and navigation.  This is more likely to be why customers aren’t accessing these areas.

It may be time to consider a change in the structure and content of your homepage and other key pages, so that they can easily accommodate regular updates and changes. Many websites now use a Content Management System (CMS), so content can be changed quickly and easily. And most CMSs can be used by non-technical people. So there’s really no excuse for why your content can’t be updated regularly.

It’s not necessary to change all of the content of your website regularly. Some pages with information that people are likely to access occasionally, such as technical information, are fine to be left unchanged.

Fixed dates for milestones

conduct major reviews of your website
It’s important that major reviews of even the best maintained websites occur regularly. At least once a year, you should do a thorough audit of your website(s). This should be part of a broader annual digital/online strategy review.

Your digital/online strategy review should look at more than just the content of the site. It should look at the site’s structure, performance of the site in general and the different sections, emerging technologies, and whether there are opportunities to do things better.

It’s also worth considering a re-skinning or at least updating the site’s design. A freshen up of the design is like a fresh coat of paint on a house.

plan a website lifespan
It’s worth planning for a lifespan for your website as soon as it is launched.  Most websites have a lifespan of two to three years before they need a major overhaul. You should start planning your replacement site in plenty of time, say a year or so out from when your current site is planned to be ready for an overhaul.

It’s best to start your planning ‘with a clean slate’. Take into account the changes in your business over the period since your current site launched, any new opportunities offered by emerging technologies and any changes in the way you do business.

You may find your current site lasts longer than you intended. However, by setting a proposed lifespan for your site and planning for the next phase well ahead of time, you will have at least considered the value your site adds to your business and what role it will play in the future.

If your business is one that changes significantly from season to season (e.g. fashion), you may want to consider regular re-skinning to reflect the season. Re-skinning is essentially just changing the look of your site. This can be achieved very cost effectively.

Some other ideas on how to stay fresh

develop a content pool
Develop a pool of content that can be uploaded over time. You could regularly update pages on your site from this content pool, even rotating a series of articles in a section. If you develop a broad pool of content ahead of time, you won’t have the excuse many organisations have for why their content doesn’t change or is out of date.

‘time-out’ time sensitive content
Any content that has a use by date must be removed from the site as soon as it is out of date, as a matter of priority.  Out of date content such as a Xmas offer still visible in March or April, presents a poor image for your organisation. 

Many CMSs have a function that allows content to be automatically removed at a set time. It’s a good idea to use this function for any time-sensitive content. Many CMSs also allow for content to be posted at pre-set times, so using this function can keep the content on your site fresh.

surveys & feedback
One way of keeping information fresh is to run regular surveys on your site. These can ask questions that help you to also build the profile of your customers. Or you can ask questions based on issues related to your industry. Providing feedback from the surveys provides a reason for people to revisit your site, so they can see what other people are thinking.

To encourage participation you can offer entries to prize draws. You could even use these surveys to help with business or marketing planning.

Whether you are rationalising your product range, developing a new product, or considering changing any aspect of your business, it’s a good idea to find out what your customers think so you can take this into account. Empowering your customers by giving them a say in your business is a great way to build customer loyalty.

competitions & promotions
Regular competitions are a great incentive to get customers visiting your site regularly, while at the same time keeping at least part of your site fresh.

The prizes need not be huge. In fact some people believe they have a better chance of winning if the prizes are smaller and are therefore more likely to participate. Competitions and prize draws are also a great way of helping to build your customer database.

blogs, wikis and rss feeds 
It’s now possible to enlist your customers to help keep your website fresh, via their input on blogs and wikis. And if you set up RSS feeds from other sites, you can access fresh content without having to develop it yourself.

special offers
Posting regular special offers on your site will keep part of your site regularly updated. It also gives you the chance to showcase your goods or services, drive sales, and, if done the right way, to build and enhance your customer database.

a dedicated web team
One of the reasons some organisations don’t maintain their websites effectively is that they don’t have a person or a team of people who are responsible for it. Your website, as an important part of your public image, should have the attention it requires. Your web person or team should have keeping the website fresh written into their KPIs and it should be part of their performance review.

It’s really important that your website is kept up to date so it promotes and enhances your organisation’s image, drives repeat visits and ensures the site performs well. Following some of the actions outlined in this paper will help you to ensure your site maintains its freshness. 

icemedia is Australia’s leading website development, web-based software applications development and e-marketing company. icemedia is part of the Dialog group of companies, with offices in Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Darwin and Townsville.  View their smallbusiness[HQ] listing here.

This paper was prepared by Greg Anders, a closed loop marketing specialist with icemedia. Greg has over 25 years experience in the marketing communications industry. He has worked with leading organisations in Australia, throughout S.E. Asia and in Europe, delivering innovative strategies to achieve their business objectives. To contact the author, call +61 7 3511 5311 or email greg.anders@icemedia.com.au.

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