Dear Mr. Communicator: We just went live with our new website. How do we get people to look at it? –a curious marketing manager
Take the right steps and traffic like this will be headed to your website.
Dear Curious:
Begin by telling the world.
- Ask employees to link to the site in their email signatures.
- Schedule social media posts with links to specific pages on the site.
- Write a blog article about the business decision process that led to the new site. Here’s an example from a site I recently completed for Joseph Robertson Foundries, Limited, a Toronto company that makes brass, bronze and aluminum castings.
- Ask your execs — lawyers, accountants, marketing pros — to ensure that their personal listings in professional organizations include links to the site.
- Promote the site on any and all customer communications, such as billing statements, store signage, business cards and print advertising.
Publish an Email Newsletter
Next, launch that e-newsletter you’ve been thinking about.
Jonathan Lehrer Communications, Inc. is a Constant Contact Solutions Provider. Visit our partner page to sign up for a free trial.
Use the newsletter to drive traffic to your website by including “teaser” versions of the content on your site, with links to the full article. The newsletter should be branded with the same logo, colors and photography that visitors see on the website.
Keep the Website Fresh and Alive
Your website is like a garden that must always be tended.
A month after the new site goes live, take a few minutes each month to check for:
- Outdated content
- Links to external sites that may no longer be valid
- Feeds that have stopped working for some unknown reason
- Copyright date that’s not right anymore
- Former staff members who are still listed on the “about us” page
As frequently as possible, check your Google rankings for your important keywords and tweak the site as necessary.
Continually adding new content will keep your readers/customers/constituents engaged and it will keep the search engines happy. Personnel changes, new products or programs, blog commentaries about the latest political developments, updated seasonal hours for your call center are among the many news items that should be added to your site.
And there’s more
- Crank up your marketing budget and start a pay-per-click advertising campaign.
- Add more videos to your site (post them on YouTube, then link to them from your site).
- Beef up your FAQ page based on what your call center people say customers are asking.
- Send a press release about the new site to trade magazines and blogs that cover your field.
Now go outside and water your real garden. With constant nurturing, the flowers will bloom and the traffic will flow to your website.