If you are a web site owner, at a minimum you should direct your attention to it at least once a month. Here is a check list of what you should - at a minimum - think about:
What's on my Home Page
Monthly To Do - What's on your home page? If it's out-of-date, get it updated!
Many frequently view web sites contain 'latest news' items, weekly or monthly specials and other time sensitive information that the owner wanted to 'wow' their customers with.
The home page is what 99% of visitors to a web site will see first. If it contains information that is clearly out-of-date, the immediate impression to the customer will be along the lines of "this business is slow and lazy". It's certain that customers who see an out-of-date home page will not continue to seek more information from that web site. They'll go elsewhere looking for fresher information (remember it's the Internet, this is easy to do with a few mouse clicks!).
Compare your advertising and web site visitors for the month
Monthly Do To - Did any major advertising campaigns result in more visitors to your web site.
Obviously, if you have invested in a web site, you're including your web site address on all your printed and spoken advertising. After all, you want to give potential customers every opportunity to easily seek out more information about your business, products and services.
You should also be receiving from your hosting provider (or generating yourself) statistics on the number of web site visitors you receive.
The next question is - if you have undertaken any major advertising campaigns over the month, did that result in more visitors to your web site? I'm sure you'll have some idea if it made the phone ring or caused more customers walk into your shop, so complete the picture and work out what happened with your web site.
If you've never asked this question about your web site visitors before, then you might be in for a surprise. Just make sure you seize any opportunities it presents. I've written a previous article touching on this topic - "Making Your Advertising Budget Work Harder". Please see this article for more information.
What new FAQ's are customer asking?
Monthly Do To - Are there any new FAQs to add to your Web Site?
If your customers' are asking the same or similar questions over and over again, then the question/answer pair make ideal candidates to place on your web site. If it happens often - and business find they often do - consider having an FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page created for your web site. Its amazing how many people use FAQ type pages to learn about a businesses products or services.
Furthermore, having question/answer pairs captured on your web site means all customers get the same answer. And familiarising employees with them helps ensures everyone is consistent when dealing with customers.
Expand one area of your web site
Monthly Do To - Is there a product, service or business area that you could use to naturally expand your web site?
Building a complete and 'perfect' web site from scratch is a near impossible task. Businesses evolve, grow and change, and so do web sites. So, if your trying to expand, evolve or redevelop an area of your business, consider using it to drive a similar change on your web site. Focusing on one section or update to your web site at a time is easy. Keep with it, and before you know it, you'll have an information-rich web site full of useful information.
Think about possibilities
Monthly Do To - Ask yourself if there is any information, online service or idea that can make your web site better.
Even better, have a pool of ideas. Having though about the possibilities and knowing what's possible is the perfect way to be an Internet leader and stay abreast of your competitors and their online adventures.
I know from experience, I build (or make major changes to) one client's web site, and 6 weeks later, their competition gets a web site or makes big changes to! Its appears to be a game of leap-frog with some businesses. Knowing the possibilities and having a few ideas up your sleeve is a sure way to be the leader. And anyway, it's always fun to watch the 'others' catch up, only to move the bar on them again :)
