Are your websites, blogs and other social media marketing efforts getting musty?
Businesses always want to show off new stuff, especially shiny new products. The same may be true of your online marketing presence: New content gets the highest priority.
Your carefully-crafted text and eye-catching photos and videos often push previous marketing messages into dark corners where they accumulate, unnoticed by web designers and content managers. Unfortunately, site visitors and social media followers may also notice those pages filled with forgotten, neglected material. It can make you look sloppy, and it can affect the overall impact of your good stuff.
Like a house that has had the same residents for years, a thorough cleaning from top to bottom is needed from time to time to refresh and renew the premises. If your website and other online marketing venues haven’t been cleaned out for a year or more, it’s time to roll up your sleeves, grab a broom, and get started.
- Planning the Cleaning – As with all big jobs, getting started is the hardest part of the task. Unless you begin by making a plan, you’ll just end up moving things around and getting frustrated. Begin by taking a tour of your online presence and check site analytics closely, noting areas that need the most attention. Start with those and work methodically and efficiently.
- Clear Out the Trash First – Work on each element of your online marketing separately. Look for outdated, stale content, expired offers and products, along with services you no longer offer. Whatever you find that isn’t relevant should be removed, along with any links leading to it. Begin with your website, since all other marketing venues lead to it.
- Clean from the Top Down – Once the trash is gone, start by cleaning up your main landing pages and most recent content. Give everything a close reading and correct all errors and awkward wording. Update content and check all links. Do a thorough job on each page or item before moving on to the next element. Make accuracy and relevancy the goals.
Inspect Every Nook and Cranny – You’ll find all sorts of forgotten dust and debris as you work through your online locations. Clear it all away. Replace whatever is no longer relevant with fresh content. Follow every link to make sure it’s still active and timely. Proofread every item on every page and correct all problems. Make improvements wherever you can.- Reorganize and Rearrange – Once everything is spotlessly clean and you’ve fixed the problems, look for ways to improve the visitor experience. Look at your website’s navigation and focus on making it easier for visitors. Think about the focus of your blogs and the structure of your social media. Examine your SEO strategies. Work to improve performance throughout.
Constant Attention Minimizes Future Maintenance
Once this thorough overall online spring-cleaning is complete, you’ll begin to see the results in more effective marketing results. Make a resolution to avoid the need to repeat this exhausting process. Stay on top of keeping your online presence tidy and sparkling on a continuing basis, and you can skip this tedious task in the future.
