Up and Running, Now What?

After creation, what steps should a Web site owner take to improve their site?

Creating a Web site is merely one step in maintaining an effective online presence. Creation requires significant effort, but there are other critical issues. You must also make sure the website is running smoothly (maintenance) and that you keep in touch with your visitors (communication). That requires a long-term investment on the part of the Web site owner.

A suggestion: A Web site owner needs to regularly run site diagnostics to unearth common problems, such as browser compatibility, load time performance, dead links, link popularity, spelling check, HTML design and directory registration readiness. There are a number of products available, including some free services, that can run these tests.

Load time is the most common problem. Sites that take more than 20 seconds to load lose up to 50% of their visitors. Many sites try to load so much information and graphics on to each page that they lose sight of usability and functionality. Users can speed up their site with an online image compression and manipulation product.

Once your site is created and optimized for performance, you need to start driving traffic to the site. That's where promotion comes in. Registration is a critical part of Web site promotion. Close to 85% of all Web users find sites through search engines. There are services that provide a single interface for registering with hundreds of search engines, directories and award sites. Also consider a press release announcing your site.

How many visitors are coming to your site, where are they coming from, which marketing campaigns are effective in bringing traffic, etc.? Look for tools that identify what links, search engines, directories and keywords are most effective at bringing visitors to your site. The #1 way people find your site is via search engines. Try http://www.netmechanic.com/ to help you register your webpage on them.

The best way to keep visitors and customers coming back to your site is to keep in touch. E-mail is the most cost-effective way to do that. Set up an e-mail mailing list from your site to announce news, promotions, product releases or tips. Look for services that allow you to segment and personalize your mailings.

So that you can get the most return on your investment in your sites, realize that it is a continuing process: maintain and optimize your site and communicate with your clients.

Please think of me for your real estate referrals in the Phoenix/Scottsdale area!

ALICE HELD

(877) 266-3229.