Considering how much you have to keep track of for your internet marketing campaign, prioritizing is job number one. Of course, in doing so, you’ve probably noticed that there are some things that always seem to get bumped to the bottom of the list.
Some things can wait — like writing your own ebook or starting your own Twitter chat — but other things always warrant your regular time and attention:
1) Your blog.
When someone visits your website — for the first time or the fiftieth — they want it to feel like they’re visiting you. But if your blog hasn’t been updated in months, what that tells visitors is that you’re not really there at all. Plus, if there’s nothing new for them to see, they’ll quickly move on to to another website that knows better.
There is no absolute blogging schedule that works for everyone, but at the very least, make sure your blog is updated once a month. If you can swing it, once a week is better. And for some websites, multiple posts a week can be worth the extra time and effort.
2) Local business listings.
A new survey by Placeable.com shows that 73 percent of us lose trust in a brand that has inaccurate information in their local business listings. (Think Google+ Local, Facebook, LinkedIn, Yahoo! Local, Foursquare, and Yelp.) And once they lose trust, good luck getting it back.
Once a month, double-check your local business listings for correct location, hours, contact information, and special offers and discounts. This will also give you a chance to make sure you haven’t missed any reviews that need your attention. Respond to every one, be it good or bad.
3) Social media pages.
Gone are the days when social media was a marginal part of your internet marketing campaign, so don’t treat your pages as such. When someone visits your Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus, or other social media platform, they’re not going to bother following you, much less clicking through to your website if you haven’t updated the page in months.
As with blogging, there is no absolute social media schedule that works for everyone. Some businesses spend a couple of hours a week on it, while others employ someone to do it as a full-time job. Hopefully, you can find a happy medium somewhere in the middle.
At the least, post and engage two or three times a week.
4) Content pages.
Just because content pages are “static” doesn’t mean you can write them, publish them, and call it done. Things change, and your content pages need to change with them.
For instance, outdated statistics make it look like you’re out-of-sync. If it’s 2014 and you’re citing studies from 2004, you’re likely missing something important in between.
Also, outdated information about your products or services can just be a downright disaster when a customer expects one thing from what they read, but then is shown or told another at checkout or via a call with a customer service rep.
Then, of course, there is the freshness factor you’re missing relative to SEO. Search engines like to see updated pages.
Plus, chances are good you’ll realize there’s just a better way for something to be said.
Every three to six months, review your website’s static content.
5) Product pages.
As with content pages, inaccurate product pages make for uncomfortable (and often failed) sales transactions. If what you’re displaying doesn’t accurately reflect what they’re getting, your customers will likely take their business somewhere else. And even if they stick around, you’ve complicated a process it’s your job to make as easy and straightforward as possible.
Again, there is no set schedule that works for everyone in terms of checking product pages. The more often you’re making changes to existing products, and adding new ones, the more often you’ll want to review things. At the very least, double-check the accuracy of your online inventory every three to six months.
When someone actually entrusts you with their email address, it’s safe to say they’re very interested in hearing from you. But if you wait too long to add them to your list, they may have forgotten who you are by the time they get their first email from you. That’s when it goes in the trash or, worse, gets marked as spam.
Granted, this isn’t a problem for your automated system, but if you collect email addresses at events (as you should be), make sure they get entered into the system as soon as possible.
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