photo credit: holycalamity There are a bazillion worthwhile things you COULD be doing to build your online presence. To name a few: analysing statistics connecting on Twitter commenting on other blogs writing more content tweaking keywords guest posting updating your theme answering questions in forums shooting video You don’t have to do all of them;…
Monthly Archives: January 2010
Promote your website
photo credit: Stig Nygaard Is your website a well-kept secret? That’s probably a good thing when you’re still in the planning stages, but if your website is ready to go, then it’s time to tell people about it! 1. Update your business cards with your website address – and your email address. It’s always much…
Making WordPress painless: Automatic Upgrade
Want a stress-free way to upgrade to the latest version of WordPress? WordPress Automatic Upgrade is a wordpress plugin that deals with the hassles and finicky steps involved in upgrading from an older version of WordPress to the latest and greatest. The video is on the longish side – 20 minutes, broken down into three…
Survey your customers
photo credit: goldberg Email, phone or chat with your customers and ask them about their opinions of your website. It’s for them, after all! Here’s a few example questions. I don’t advise that you use all of them on the same person unless you know they’re cool with it, because most people find a long…
Update your About Us page
photo credit: OnTask If you want people to give you something (money, attention or their email address), you’re asking them to take a risk: the risk you’ll sell them crap, or waste their time, or spam them silly. To act, your visitor needs the risk they perceive to be smaller than the trust they have…
Test your website actions
photo credit: Tweek Your website has a purpose (or at least it should. If you’re not sure, learn more about defining your website’s purpose) and actions that support that purpose. Let’s make sure the actions work as they’re supposed to. 1. If you list a phone number on your website, dial it from an outside…
Perform the 3-second test
photo credit: db*Photography 1. Print out a copy of your homepage. 2. Find someone who doesn’t know your business: a neighbour, networking event attender, second cousin, dog washer… 3. Show them the picture of your homepage for 3 seconds. Really 3, not “sorta 3-ish but really 10″. 4. Ask them what the website is about….
The Awesome Website Manifesto has arrived!
Things are going well for us over here in Be Awesome Online Land. More people are visiting, and leaving comments, and telling us you’re getting lots of value from the website. We’re so glad! We’re doing our part. It’s become something of a mission to us both, in fact. So much so, that like all…
Update your signature
Every time you post in a forum or send someone an email, you have a prime opportunity to promote your website with zero effort. Don’t set your signature line to be informative (and dull)! It can be a wicked effective marketing tool to encourage visitors to your website. photo credit: nukeit1 Guidelines for a good…
Set up Google Analytics
photo credit: Haiko It’s hard to know if you’re doing well without metrics. Many web hosting providers include a statistics package, which will give you measurements about: how many visitors have come to your website, and which pages they visit where the visitors are from how long visitors stay on your website how many visitors…