Tips to Fall Cleaning --- Your Website

How 'clean' is your website? Have you accumulated extra files, images, pages? Is your product or service offering up-to-date?

Now might be a good time to devote to 'cleaning' up those extra items that can be often neglected. Below, we provide a few tips you can use to help with your Fall Clean-up.

Review Your Website --- for Errors
Look at each page and read the content carefully. Is your content free of spelling and grammar mistakes? Do the images match the message? Do you have pages with 'broken' links? These are common issues that can be easily fixed.

Review Your Website --- for Accuracy
Do you sell products or services on the web? When was the last time you checked to make sure the information is accurate? We suggest you carefully check every product/service offered on your website to ensure it is accurate and still being offered. Check your images, product descriptions, whitepapers and any other details about your product/service. If it's out-of-date, it shouldn't be on your website.

Review Your Website --- for Consistency
How do your pages 'flow'? When you go from one page to another, do you get the same "look-and-feel" or is their a lack of consistency between pages? "Look-and-feel" elements include the layout, graphics, image styles and even ensuring the same font is used consistently throughout.

Review Your Website --- for META Tags
How does your site rank? When is the last time you reviewed your keywords and compared them to your competition? Has your content been 'optimized'? These are critical areas to review that, if done correctly, can dramatically help to increase your search rankings. These are also areas you should review often.

Review Your Website --- for Rogue Files
Do you have FTP access to your website? If so, you should check to make sure only files that relate to your website are on your web server. A common mistake is forgetting to delete old pages off the web server that are no longer relevant. Just because you delete a link to the page, doesn't actually delete the page itself. If you're using a standard site (and not a web console or Content Management System, for example), you'll need to FTP into your site and remove those files - but BE CAREFUL - you don't want to mistakenly delete a file that is a necessary part of your live website. Considering the risk of deleting the wrong file, this is one of those, "if you don't know, better hire someone who does" scenarios.

Following these tips can help keep your website 'ready for business'. And, considering that your website might make the first impression your potential customer realizes, isn't regular focus worth it?

Marketing Outlook for 2010

Undoubtedly, 2009 will go down in history as a very difficult year for many people and businesses. I've been trying to keep current with the latest economic forecasts and it appears that the general consensus seems to be much more optimistic for 2010than it was for 2009.

What does that mean for small business owners? Opportunity. I'd suggest that you start by taking a serios look at your marketing efforts - not just your website, but also you brochures, flyers, banners, even business cards. Are you projecting the image you want your business to be? If you have salespeople, do they have all the marketing material they need to successful make the sale? If not, now might be a good time to start.

Another area to review is your marketing plan. Rather than waiting for business to come to you, consider a 3-6 month campaign to get your message out to prospective customers. The web is a great way to get new business, and so still is the traditional methods of print advertising. Better yet, consider a combination of both to really give your message a well-rounded approach. And, with various options out there, you don't have to spend a lot to see results.

Whatever you decide to do, I would like to wish you all a Happy New Year and a wonderful 2010.

-Rick